Influenza cases in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong show how flu can be more harmful than anyone expects it to be. Reports say that among all the patients suffering from the seasonal flu, at least five cases were confirmed that have resulted in necrotizing encephalitis, a flu complication that usually affects children.
With what happened to Guangdong, as reported by Radio Free Asia, and the increasing death rate of people with influenza in the world, experts are now making more ways to combat the problem. As a matter of fact, a recent report said how a Boston-based pharmaceutical startup is now working hand in hand with Sanofi, along with machines and artificial intelligence, to create an innovation of flu vaccine.
The focus of their study is to gather enough data "like mRNA variations and concentrations of metabolites and proteins" from participants. Hundreds of people have participated in the study; all of them were exposed to a flu vaccine. After gathering the data, the information gathered will undergo a "sophisticated artificial intelligence algorithm," TIME reports.
Niven Narain, Berg's co-founder, and CEO, explains that the results of the study could help improve flu shots. Furthermore, it can also open opportunities for people who are receiving customized vaccines, which are designed to boost and strengthen their particular immune system.
Narain further explained how the process works. According to the co-founder, by observing the information gathered from the patients, they will be able to understand how effective the vaccine is in strengthening their immune system. Doing so can help them search for "biomarkers of prediction" and be able to make vaccines that are more efficient and effective in the future.
As these experts work together to make these flu vaccines more effective and more efficient, a hope for a stronger army to fight influenza is what they expect. With what Berg is doing now, we are surely one step closer to a healthier world.
Richard Webby, the Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, shared how the medical field lack information on how to improve flu vaccines to make it more effective. Given this, Webby is glad about what the company is working on right now.
Even with Berg's effort, other experts predict that the creation of the universal flu vaccine will not happen anytime soon. Despite that, there is but one thing they are sure of: the wait will surely be worthwhile.
