Belgian researcher Walter Fiers, who says his team has designed a vaccine against influenza, poses...

Belgian researcher Walter Fiers, who says his team has designed a vaccine against influenza, poses in his laboratory at the University of Ghent October 4. Fiers and his team of reseachers have developed an experimental vaccine they say could one day immunise people for life against influenza, which kills hundreds of thousands every year. Vaccines on the market so far only protect against the disease in 80 percent of cases. And a fresh injection is required every year, as new mutations of the virus sweep the planet. The work was carried out on animals and it will be several years more before a vaccine for humans would be available.