Scientists have found a flu "super antibody" called F16 that has the potential to fight all types of the influenza A viruses and could be a turning point in developing a universal flu vaccine.

While research is still in the early stages, researchers from Britain and Switzerland said the discovery was important in developing new flu treatments.

Vaccine makers always have to change their flu treatments every year to keep up with the different strains of flu viruses. Immunologists have been on the hunt for the holy grail of flu vaccines- a universal flu vaccine that could protect people from all types of flu strains and that didn't have to change every year.

"As we saw with the 2009 pandemic, a comparatively mild strain of influenza can place a significant burden on emergency services. Having a universal treatment which can be given in emergency circumstances would be an invaluable asset," said John Skehel, study researcher of Britain's National Institute for Medical Research in an statement with Reuters.

The research team led by Antonio Lanzavecchia, an immunologist from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Bellinzona, Switzerland, screened blood plasma from eight different donors who are able to produce antibodies against the flu virus. In one patient, the team discovered an antibody that could target all 16 subtypes of influenza A. After testing it with animals, the antibody also protected mice from H1N1 swine flu and ferrets from H5N1 bird flu.

"This is a landmark study because the authors identified a single antibody that is capable of stopping virtually all different types of flu viruses," immunologist Scott Hensley of Philadelphia's Wistar Institute said.

This antibody prevents the virus from merging with the cell's membrane to halt the infection's spread.

While the discovery could bode well for future flu research it doesn't mean that there will be universal vaccine any time soon. According to Francis Collins, chief of the National Institutes of Health there could be a vaccine in as little as five years.

Other researchers are a little more understated in their predictions. A universal flu vaccine is "not a question of whether, but when," says Arnold Monto, of the University of Michigan. "I think five years is a bit ambitious, given where we are now."