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Researchers are seeking about 500 NHS patients to try out a new "universal" vaccine against seasonal flu. The experimental vaccine works differently from the one currently available, which has to be remade each year based on a "best guess" of what type of flu is likely to be about. The new jab targets part of the virus that does not change each year. This means the vaccine should work against human, bird and swine flu, say the team from the University of Oxford led by Prof Sarah Gilbert, Jenner Investigator.