Scientists Develop New Technique to Deliver Vaccines without Needles

In this May 5, 2022, file photo, a nurse administers the Pfizer booster shot at a COVID-19 vaccination and testing site in Los Angeles. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
In this May 5, 2022, file photo, a nurse administers the Pfizer booster shot at a COVID-19 vaccination and testing site in Los Angeles. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
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Scientists Develop New Technique to Deliver Vaccines without Needles

In this May 5, 2022, file photo, a nurse administers the Pfizer booster shot at a COVID-19 vaccination and testing site in Los Angeles. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
In this May 5, 2022, file photo, a nurse administers the Pfizer booster shot at a COVID-19 vaccination and testing site in Los Angeles. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

British researchers announced that they have developed a new technique that delivers vaccines in the body without needles. The technique could help deliver vaccines through the skin via ultrasounds without using needles that harm the skin and cause pain. The findings were presented at an international conference in Australia on Monday.

An estimated quarter of adults and two-thirds of children have strong fears around needles, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet, public health depends on people being willing to receive vaccines, which are often administered by a jab.

The new method relies on ultrasound pulses to form small bubbles that clear passages through the skin. Then, the pulses deliver the vaccine molecules through the bubbles, which allows its diffusion in the surrounding tissues.

“Our method relies on an acoustic effect called ‘cavitation,’ which is the formation and popping of bubbles in response to a sound wave,” said Darcy Dunn-Lawless, lead author from the University of Oxford’s Institute of Biomedical Engineering.

“We aim to harness the concentrated bursts of mechanical energy produced by these bubble collapses in three main ways. First, to clear passages through the outer layer of dead skin cells and allow vaccine molecules to pass through. Second, to act as a pump that drives the drug molecules into these passages. Lastly, to open up the membranes surrounding the cells themselves, since some types of vaccine must get inside a cell to function,” she explained.

Initial in vivo tests reported that the vaccine molecules delivered by the new approach produced a higher immune response, according to the Eurekalert website.

The researchers theorize this could be due to the immune-rich skin the ultrasonic delivery targets in contrast to the muscles that receive the jab.

According to Lawless, the result is a more efficient vaccine that could help reduce costs and increase efficacy with little risk of side effects. The team plans further research to explore the efficacy and safety of the new approach for specific vaccines like DNA vaccines.



Latest Tests Show Seine Water Quality Was Substandard When Paris Mayor Took a Dip

 Boats carrying members of delegations sail along the Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
Boats carrying members of delegations sail along the Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
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Latest Tests Show Seine Water Quality Was Substandard When Paris Mayor Took a Dip

 Boats carrying members of delegations sail along the Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
Boats carrying members of delegations sail along the Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 26, 2024. (AFP)

Tests results released Friday showed the water quality in the River Seine was slightly below the standards needed to authorize swimming — just as the Paris Olympics start.

Heavy rain during the opening ceremony revived concerns over whether the long-polluted waterway will be clean enough to host swimming competitions, since water quality is deeply linked with the weather in the French capital.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a highly publicized dip last week in a bid to ease fears. The Seine will be used for marathon swimming and triathlon.

Daily water quality tests measure levels of fecal bacteria known as E. coli.

Tests by monitoring group Eau de Paris show that at the Bras Marie, E. coli levels were then above the safe limit of 900 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters determined by European rules on June 17, when the mayor took a dip.

The site reached a value of 985 on the day the mayor swam with Paris 2024 chief Tony Estanguet and the top government official for the Paris region, Marc Guillaume, joined her, along with swimmers from local swimming clubs.

At two other measuring points further downstream, the results were below the threshold.

The statement by Paris City Hall and the prefecture of the Paris region noted that water quality last week was in line with European rules six days out of seven on the site which is to host the Olympic swimming competitions.

It noted that "the flow of the Seine is highly unstable due to regular rainfall episodes and remains more than twice the usual flow in summer," explaining fluctuating test results.

Swimming in the Seine has been banned for over a century. Since 2015, organizers have invested $1.5 billion to prepare the Seine for the Olympics and to ensure Parisians have a cleaner river after the Games. The plan included constructing a giant underground water storage basin in central Paris, renovating sewer infrastructure, and upgrading wastewater treatment plants.