In Fast-Tracked Trial, Nanopatch Flu Vaccine Found Effective

Friday, April 23, 2010 - 14:00 in Health & Medicine

The patch uses 100 times less vaccine than an injection to provide the same resistance In a successful test of a prototype nanotech vaccine patch, Australian researchers at the University of Queensland used a patch smaller than a postage stamp to deliver vaccine through the skin without needles, and with 100 times less vaccine required to evoke a similar protective immune response, according to Pharmacy News. We noted previously that the nanopatch efficiency could help limited stocks of vaccine go a longer way during epidemics. Its ability to be self-administered also means that ordinary people in the developing world could more easily get vaccinated without the presence of physicians or nurses. The nanopatch has thousands of densely packed projections to administer the vaccine through the skin over a period of just two minutes. Australian scientists used the nanopatch to specifically target a narrow layer just beneath the skin which holds a high...

Read the whole article on PopSci

More from PopSci

Latest Science Newsletter

Get the latest and most popular science news articles of the week in your Inbox! It's free!

Check out our next project, Biology.Net