2 weeks Ago By Lily Kelly
Hope is on the horizon for needle phobics as researchers from Griffith University have developed a needle free influenza vaccine that can be delivered through the nose. “These reprogrammed bacterial cells factories have the ability to abundantly produce the desired vaccine particles which means we can produce large amounts of the vaccine in a short period of time,” he said. The useability of the vaccine technology extends beyond the prevention of human influenza to avian and swine influenzas along with other animal flus due to its strength and cost efficiency.
Rehm told The Epoch Times that the manufacturing process creates a formulation of robust particles, protecting the vaccine from degradation and making it suitable for stockpiling. He said the synthetic vaccine particles mimic the actual virus and trigger an immune response, preventing infection. The increase in blood pressure during anticipation of the needle and the sudden drop in pressure and heart rate when the needle is encountered or administered can result in fainting.
Consequently, around half of the needle phobic population have fainted at least once. Needle phobia can also trigger intense urges to escape or avoid having needles in the future. The current treatment for needle phobia is to safely and slowly test the fear.
However, this new vaccine has the potential to help people receive flu shots without triggering their phobia. Another benefit of the intranasal delivery of this vaccine is that nasal drop administration can significantly limit respiratory virus replication and shedding (where the virus is spread through coughing and sneezing). “More work needs to be done, but we hope to see a human intranasal influenza vaccine available to the public in the next three to four years,” he said.
“The generation of new influenza vaccine which can provide long-term protection against a range of seasonal and emerging variants would be a major health and economic benefit.”.
