For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Health Issues page.

Flu shots work, or more aptly often don’t work, because they protect against just three or four strains of the influenza virus – those strains of type A or type B influenza that are suspected to be the most commonly circulating in any given year.

The three or four influenza strains contained in annual flu shots represent only a fraction of the 200 or so different viruses known to circulate and cause flu-like symptoms each year. In addition, only about 20 percent of suspected influenza cases that occur during the flu season test positive for type A or type B influenza.  So if the influenza strains contained in the flu shot aren’t a good match for the strains circulating in any given year, it’s obviously not going to do you much good. Even the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states:

“During years when the flu vaccine is not well matched to circulating viruses, it’s possible that no benefit from flu vaccination may be observed.”

Researchers are unsurprisingly scrambling to be the first to develop a universal flu vaccine, one that would protect against all forms of influenza. A team working for pharmaceutical company Sanofi believes they may have discovered the secret, which, ironically, produces an effect similar to that of vitamin D.

A Universal Flu Vaccine That Boosts Your Immune System?

Currently, flu vaccines work by introducing a live or inactivated form of flu virus into your body, prompting your immune system to produce antibodies that may help prevent infection against wild-type circulating influenza viruses you are exposed to in your environment. It’s worth noting that even when the flu vaccine is well matched, it still has extremely unimpressive rates of effectiveness.