Research finds why flu vaccine works better in some people than others

RESEARCHERS have uncovered reasons why flu vaccines works better in some people than others to guide more effective seasonal jabs in the future.

The flu vaccine works better in some people than others. Picture: iStock

RESEARCHERS have uncovered reasons why flu vaccines work better in some people than others to guide more effective seasonal jabs in the future.

After analysing samples from people who gained the highest immunity from flu vaccines over the past three years, researchers from Melbourne’s Doherty Institute identified three types of white blood cells which became activated to fight off the flu.

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Lead researcher Prof Katherine Kedzierska said the lower the activation of the three white blood cell types — T follicular helper cells, antibody-secreting cells and memory B cells — the lower the immunity a person received from the vaccination.

“In the best responders they had those three white blood cells that were recruited to fight the flu virus,” Prof Kedzierska said.

The flu vaccine works better in some people than others. Picture: iStock

“There is more research that needs to be done, but we think we can make a vaccine that strongly recruits those three cell types so it can greatly improve protection for everyone vaccinated, so that everyone responds to the vaccine.”

The study, published in Science Translational Medicine could also be used to predict how well individuals will respond to a particular flu vaccine so greater efforts can be concentrated on the vulnerable during killer flu seasons.

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Following last year’s record influenza season, the Department of Health is conducting a survey of Victorian’s understanding of the flu and immunisation to better prepare the community for future seasons.

The department plans to use the feedback to design a new campaign overcoming the reason there were gaps in immunisation. The survey is available here.