A Gold Coast university is playing a central role in finding a cure for the flu, after the country's worst outbreak of the virus this year.
Griffith University's Institute for Glycomics has partnered with Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine and the Hannover Medical School to advance the development of new anti-infective drugs.
The collaboration will see new technology enter the country and, ultimately, new drugs hit the market to counter the resistance being shown to current flu vaccines.
It comes as Queensland Health convenes a summit in Brisbane next week in response to a flu season which left the state's health system struggling to cope with more than 35,000 people infected and hundreds in intensive care.
"This has been the worst influenza season that we've ever seen," Griffith University Professor Paul Van Buynder said, welcoming the summit and the new partnership.
"Influenza is an insidious and nasty killer; it's the worst vaccine-preventable disease by a long way and the project that's currently underway ... will help us develop better antibiotics."
Professor Mark von Itzstein said new vaccines could either prevent a person from getting the flu, or cure the infection if the person already had it.
He said it was important that new options become available in Australia, given influenza's increasing resistance to current drugs.
"In a nutshell we want to add further weapons that will cure the flu," he said.
Prof van Buynder is confident two new vaccines will be available in Australia next year, while the new three-way partnership will provide options in the longer term.
"We are one very small change in the influenza from not being able to use our (current) drugs anymore," he said.
"Next year we will have a choice of vaccines and be working with general practitioners to pick the appropriate vaccine for their patients."
