"It targets the abundant immune cell populations
in the skin's outer layers, rather than muscle, resulting in a more efficient
vaccine delivery system," Professor Kendall said.
"The ease of administration, coupled with dose
reduction observed in this study suggests that the Nanopatch could facilitate
inexpensive vaccination of inactivated poliovirus vaccines." Professor
Kendall adds.
began in 1988 when polio was
endemic in over 125 countries. The result of this was over 350,000 cases of
paralysis each year.
‘Nanopatch delivery elicits faster antibody response than the traditional intra-muscular injections along with lower cost and easier administration.’
Although, polio vaccines are safe, efficient and have resulted in eradicating polio from most of the world except Pakistan and Afghanistan, there is a small group of people who may suffer from vaccine-associated poliovirus paralysis. Also the virus in the vaccine may revert into its virulent
phenotype and spread in the community.
The currently administered vaccination for polio is
a live oral vaccine. In this case, the polio virus is alive but the virulence
is weakened to prevent infection but just enough to produce antibodies. There
is another type of vaccine called the inactivated poliovirus vaccine. In this
case, the virus is heat killed and is not virulent.
However, the cost factor of administering the
inactive vaccine is very high. A single dose of inactive polio virus vaccine is
five times more expensive than the oral live attenuated poliovirus vaccine,
making it unsuitable for mass vaccination programs. To secure a polio-free
world, it is necessary to avoid live attenuated or oral vaccines and administer
the inactive poliovirus vaccines. Nanopatch allows easier administration of
vaccines including the inactivated poliovirus vaccines.
The Study Findings
- The study examines Nanopatch as an
alternative vaccine delivery system to the traditional needle and syringe
to deliver inactivated poliovirus vaccine.
- The team found that all three
inactivated poliovirus serotypes can be formulated onto a single Nanopatch
device and elicit an immune response against all three serotypes in rats.
- Also, there was no difference in immune
response even if the inactivated poliovirus vaccine was delivered as a
monovalent or trivalent formulation.
Reference:
- Muller, D. et al. High-density microprojection array delivery to rat skin of low doses of trivalent inactivated poliovirus vaccine elicits potent neutralising antibody responses. Scientific Reports 7, (2017).
Source: Medindia
