New vaccination method discovered
If you do not like needles, then you should be relieved. The scientists have recently developed a new method of delivering the vaccines, and the method does not involve the needle. The new method consists of a delivery patch which contains hundreds of microscopic needles. The needles dissolve into the skin, and as a result the patient does not feel the pain.
Besides that benefit, the new method is also more efficient because it can protect the patient from various viruses such as influenza. The patches which contain the microscopic needles are simply placed on the finger, and they will then do the rest of the work.
The needles simply dissolved into the body via the place where they have been placed. The new method can be extremely useful. There are many risks associated with the needles, some of the most common being HIV, or hepatitis. Since the patch can be used with much ease, the patients can vaccinate themselves. The patches could prove much more beneficial in the case of large-scale immunization programs as well. The doctors will also be able to vaccinate the children much easier with the patches because no pain is involved. The patches were first used on the mice, and the research was conducted by scientists from the Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. They wanted to see the effects of this type of vaccination; to see if this method is just as useful as the other one. Mark Prausnitz, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering said that the experiment proved that the new method is just as effective as the regular one.
He also stated that the new method might be better than the traditional one, and that they are working on improving it. They have vaccinated the mice against influenza, and the results were just as good as in the case of the mice which were vaccinated with the traditional method. There were 100 needles in the patches which were used for the mice. The size of the patch was very small, approximately 650 microns in length. The microneedles penetrated the outer layers of the skin. A benefit of the new method was that the microneedles seemed to improve the immunity than the regular needles. The increase in immunity is due to the fact that the microneedles inject the vaccine in the skin and not in the muscle like the regular needle. The skin contains various cells which are responsible for generating immune responses for vaccines and this is why the immunity of the mice who received the vaccine via the new method was higher.
The scientists split the mice into three different groups. One of the groups received the vaccine via the traditional way, another group received it through the new method and the third group received no treatment, but the scientists applied empty patches on them. The groups which received vaccines for the influenza virus survived whereas the mice which did not received the vaccine died. Three months after they receive the vaccine, the mice were given the flu virus. The researchers observed that the mice which received the vaccine via the patch got rid of the virus much faster than the ones which received the vaccine through the needle. The reason for this was the previously mentioned one, and that is because the microneedles increase the immunity of the patients. The mice which received the vaccine via the needle were also able to eliminate the virus from their system but they did it slower than the ones who received it through the patch. According to Ioanna Skountzou, an Emory University assistant professor, another benefit of this vaccine is that the formula which contains the necessary substances is in a dry form, and as a result its distribution and storage can be done in a much more effective manner.
The microneedles are inserted into the skin and the dry formula will quickly be absorbed by the bodily fluids. The only thing that remains after the vaccine is the water backing, but that can be discarded since it does not contain any sharps. The scientists who were involved in the problem stated that they want to create a vaccination method which can be used by the people who need the shots. The people would simply buy the vaccines from a pharmacy, and then go home and administrate the vaccine, without having to worry about the needles. The microneedles were made out of poly-vinyl pyrrolidone, a polymer material which is not harmful for the body. The polymer material was mixed with the freeze-dried vaccine and then it was inserted into the microneedle molds. In many countries there is an epidemic of hepatitis B, or HIV, mostly because they can not afford to throw away the needles, so they reuse them for various patients.
The study examined the administration of the influenza vaccine, but the researchers are optimistic that the treatment would be effective in the case of other vaccines as well. One of the greatest things about the microneedles is the fact that they do not cost more than the regular needles. They might be even cheaper in the case of large scale immunization programs. The waste disposal requirements would be reduced and the personnel needed for the process would be reduced as well. The clinics can not use the dissolving needles yet, because further tests need to be made. The researchers want to actually prove that they are effective in the case of people as well. The researchers will also need to test other types of vaccines as well, and to demonstrate that this vaccination method is better than the regular one. The researchers behind this study are confident and optimistic about the new vaccination method, and hope that some day this method will permanently replace the former one.
