SBS Italian news, with a slower pace. This is Slow Italian, Fast Learning, the very best of the week’s news, read at a slower pace, with Italian and English text available.
Italian
È considerato il Sacro Gral della medicina contro un flagello mortale e globale: un vaccino che possa battere l'influenza, in qualunque forma si presenti.
Grazie ad una ricerca all'avanguardia, condotta in Australia dalla professoressa Katherine Kedzierska del Doherty Institute di Melbourne, ora l'obiettivo è più vicino, grazie alla scoperta di nuove cellule T Killer.
(T-cells) " ... that can recognise and find all the influenza viruses capable of infecting humans and that's influenza A, B and C.
I virus dell'influenza sono noti per essere difficili da curare perché possono mutare ogni anno.
Ma il team della professoressa Kedzierska ha identificato in modo cruciale parti del virus che non sono cambiate da più di 100 anni.
"It was really like finding a needle in a haystack. We started with 67,000 viral sequences and narrowed it down to three sequences that the killer T-cells can recognise."
In base al sistema immunitario del paziente, potrebbe essere necessario soltanto un vaccino contro l'influenza che copra tutte le sue forme ogni dieci anni, o in alcuni casi anche solo una volta.
Un vaccino universale avrebbe il potenziale di salvare molte vite umane.
Non più tardi del 2017, un tipo particolarmente virulento di influenza ha causato un numero record di contagi e circa 4000 decessi in tutto il mondo.
La stagione influenzale attualmente nell'emisfero nord ha ucciso 1000 persone nella sola Francia.
Anche in Grecia sono morte almeno 56 persone, con il timore che molte altre siano a rischio.
Ma a causa delle stranezze del DNA, secondo la professoressa Kedzierska il rivoluzionario super-vaccino sarebbe efficace solo per metà della popolazione mondiale che ha queste cellule T killer.
"Now what we are working on is using similar cutting-edge technology is to find similar killer T-cells for the rest of the global population so we can protect everyone against pandemic and seasonal influenza viruses."
Si tratta di una scoperta australiana che potrebbe cambiare le carte in tavola nella lotta globale contro le epidemie di influenza.
English
It's considered medicine's Holy Grail in tackling a deadly global scourge of the winter months - a vaccine that can beat the flu, in whatever form it comes.
Thanks to ground-breaking research, led in Australia by Professor Katherine Kedzierska from Melbourne's Doherty Institute, it's now a big step closer with the discovery of new killer T-cells.
(T-cells) " ... that can recognise and find all the influenza viruses capable of infecting humans and that's influenza A, B and C.
Flu viruses are notoriously tricky because they can mutate every year.
But crucially, Professor Kedzierska's team has now identified virus parts that haven't changed for more than a century.
"It was really like finding a needle in a haystack. We started with 67,000 viral sequences and narrowed it down to three sequences that the killer T-cells can recognise."
Depending on a patient's immune system, a cover-all flu shot would only be needed every ten years - or in some cases even just once.
A universal vaccine would have the potential to be a significant lifesaver.
As recently as 2017, a particularly virulent flu strain led to a record number of infections and an estimated 4,000 deaths worldwide.
The current Northern Hemisphere flu season has killed 1,000 in France alone.
At least 56 people have died in Greece, too, and it's feared many more are vulnerable.
But because of DNA quirks, Professor Kedzierska says the breakthrough super-vaccine would be effective for only the half of the world's population that has the killer T-cells.
"Now what we are working on is using similar cutting-edge technology is to find similar killer T-cells for the rest of the global population so we can protect everyone against pandemic and seasonal influenza viruses."
It's an Australian breakthrough that could be a game-changer in fighting global flu epidemics.
Report by Gareth Boreham
