According to the journal Nature Medicine, U.S. scientists have developed a method to prevent the needles in vaccines. London (EFE) Scientists have developed a revolutionary method that allows vaccines without needles or syringes without the need of specialized medical personnel, according to a study published in the journal Nature Medicine.
This is a patch that is placed on the skin and transform the battle against future pandemics inoculating patients with vaccines which can be sent by mail and may be administered at home without medical help.
In the developing world, the use of these patches could eliminate the need for expensive infrastructure of mass vaccination campaigns and their storage, besides the danger posed by the use of dirty needles.
The patch contains about one hundred microscopic needles made of biodegradable plastic and slightly penetrating painlessly into the skin surface and dissolve without a trace.
The tests performed indicate that the patch is as effective, if not more than conventional vaccines that are used in the syringes and needles.
Experiments conducted with laboratory mice show that the patches work better than injectable vaccines to prevent flu infections since the vaccine enters the body through the skin surface, which plays an important role in the immune system.
Professor Mark Prausnitz, the George Institute of Technology, Atlanta (USA), who led the research team, said that patch can revolutionize the way to administer vaccines as easy and safe it is.
“The patch with microneedles that dissolves can facilitate immunization programs by eliminating the need for specialized personnel and allow self-vaccination,” he said.
“In our study we have shown that the patch with microneedles that dissolve can be vaccinated against the flu as well or maybe even better than traditional hypodermic needles,” said the scientist.
Mice immunized with patches prevented infection with influenza virus one month after vaccination as well as another group in which used needles.
However, the first resist a second infection three months after better than the second, which scientists attributed to the fact that inoculation occurred through the skin rather than through a traditional injection into the muscle.
According to experts, another advantage of the vaccine is presented as a dry formulation (frozen), which reinforces its stability during distribution and storage.
The microneedles have a length of 650 microns-six times the thickness of a human hair, and are short enough not to stimulate the pain receptors in the skin but are large enough to overcome the protective layer of the epidermis.
They will, however, new animal testing before the vaccine is tested in human volunteers although the polymer plastic microneedles that are manufactured and used in medicine without side effects in the patient.
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