Respiratory infections affect billions of people every year and are among the top five causes of death worldwide. Despite recent medical advances, viruses such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can still cause severe and even fatal illness.

Milder infections, including the common cold, are usually not fatal. But the cold can be caused by many different viruses, and it leads to a lot of time off work and a heavy cost to the economy.

These infections hit some groups harder than others. People living in deprived areas, older people and very young children are more likely to become seriously ill or die.

A government-funded research project called Triumph-NK, based at the University of Southampton, aims to prevent that harm. Our team is working on a new kind of vaccine that could protect against a wide range of respiratory viruses and be used immediately in an outbreak or even a pandemic.

The project is part of a wider programme called “sustained viral resilience”.........

© The Conversation