Vaccines from Needles Could Soon Be a Thing of the Past

Vaccines from needles could soon

Vaccines from needles could soon be a thing of the past

Ever heard of painless vaccines? Do you think it is really possible to be injected with vaccine without the use of needles such as injection? But that is not just the catch! This new technology which might be a thing this 2017 will not just be pain-free but also offers delivery even in remote areas, even without refrigeration and medical personnel to administer such. Sounds cool right?

Researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that measles vaccine patch could begin clinical trials as early as 2017.  We’ve been hearing about this for over a decade but now there is a definite time frame to which it will happen. Human skin does not easily absorb larger molecules used in vaccines. Each patch contains 100 tiny needles where each needles is about 0.02 long. Looking through a strong magnifying glass, it’s surface looks like a grid of tiny dots—each dot is a microneedle made of a dry vaccine, sugar, a polymer and a few other ingredients.

It’s a skin patch that you put on like a Band-Aid.

In addition to addressing people’s fear to take painful shots of the vaccine, microneedles also save millions of lives since it is hygienic. Over 1.3 million people die in the world each year due to mishandling of needles. Unlike needles, the patch does not enter the bloodstream  and there is less risk of spreading infections.

[pic 1]

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Credit: Georgia Tech Photo