A New Australian study could help in influenza breakthrough

Australian researchers are at the forefront of cracking the code of the flu virus, potentially putting authorities in a position of predicting an approaching pandemic.

Australian researchers have mapped the genetic structure of the flu and it could help predict the next pandemic.

Unlocking the make-up of the influenza A strain has allowed scientists to see how it can morph into completely new viruses, University of Melbourne flu researcher Lorena Brown said.

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“People didn’t think about how the virus was packaged together … so it’s sort of opening the field up now to more research that ultimately will allow us the predict these strains that might emerge,” she told AAP.

An image taken with transmission electron microscopy of the Influenza virus. Picture: BSIP/UIG via Getty Images

Influenza viruses are made up of eight genome segments and these can swap with others to create an entirely new virus.

This is what happened with swine flu in 2009, Prof Brown said. “Nobody had antibodies to that because no one had seen that virus before,” she said.

“We had to create a whole new different vaccine very quickly.”

The influenza A breakthrough won’t prevent pandemics but it could help health authorities respond more effectively.

“It’s not an instant, ‘oh this is going to give us better vaccines’,” Prof Brown said.

“With this technology and with this know how, ultimately we hope to be able to predict what combinations of viruses are likely to emerge and so we can be better prepared … and are able to assess how severe they’re going to be as well.”

Prof Brown has co-authored a report on the flu mapping, to be released on Tuesday.

It comes as more than 400 babies under 12 months old have been infected with the flu in Victoria this year during a “difficult winter” and earlier season.

Being able to predict a flu pandemic could help authorities warn the public sooner and save lives through service announcements such as this SA health flu poster. Picture: Supplied

There have been 416 reported cases of influenza in babies aged under one in comparison to just 29 for the same time last year, health department figures reveal.

This equates to an increase in cases of more than 1300 per cent.

“This is a difficult winter. There’s a heightened risk of the flu,” Labor MP Jacinta Allan told reporters on Sunday.

“The flu season started earlier and it is predicted to go for longer and the best approach we can all take on this, where you can be, people are vaccinated.”

The government has also ordered more flu vaccines, she added.

But opposition spokesman David Davis said the data showed the impact on the government’s tardiness to get enough vaccines for those who need them.

“The state government has been very slow in its response on the flu this year. There was a major break before those flu vaccines were needed before everyone needed them. That slowness is part of the impact,” he said.

“The ability of the government to get these vaccines out and to make sure that everybody who needs them has got them was compromised early on.”

Originally published as A New Australian study could help in influenza breakthrough