Compound boosts effect of vaccines

Compound boosts effect of vaccines

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Oxford University scientists have discovered a compound that greatly boosts the effect of vaccines against viruses like flu, HIV and herpes in mice, Sciende Daily has reported. An “adjuvant” is a substance added to a vaccine to enhance the immune response and offer better protection against infection.

The researchers now intend to test the PEI adjuvant in ferrets, a better animal model for studying flu. They also want to understand how long the protection lasts for. It is likely to be a couple of years before a flu vaccine using the adjuvant could be tested in clinical trials in humans, the researchers say.