While the news reports a boom in measles cases in Europe due to the decline in vaccinations, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that during 2022 this disease caused 136 thousand deaths globally, especially among unvaccinated children or not fully vaccinated under the age of 5 years. On the other hand, it recalls that the vaccine currently available, which is considered safe and effective, has made it possible to avoid 57 million deaths between 2000 and 2022. And in this complex scenario comes the news that both the measles vaccine and the against rubella they could in the future be administered through patches. A modality that presents several advantages compared to the conventional injection: for example, it does not require the intervention of specialized personnel and reduces the need for refrigeration of the vaccine itself, two of the main barriers for access to vaccines in some areas of the world, such as rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. A study just published on The Lancet demonstrates for the first time the effectiveness and safety of this method even in very young children.
Boom in measles cases in Europe, blamed on the decline in vaccinations
by Valentina Arcovio
I study
The clinical trial was conducted in Gambia by a group of researchers from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Unit at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), and involved a total of 285 healthy participants, including 45 adults aged between 18 and 40 years old, 120 children aged 15-18 months and 120 infants aged 9-10 months. One third of adults and half of children and infants received the measles and rubella vaccination as a single injection, while two thirds of adults and the remaining half of children and infants received the same type of vaccine through a specially designed patch. designed. The latter consists of a small device applicable to the skin and equipped with microscopic needles that penetrate the skin painlessly, allowing the administration of the vaccine. For the current study, the device was placed on the back of participants’ forearm, left in place for five minutes, and then removed.
Measles
Both in the case of injection and in the case of administration through the patch, two attenuated forms of the viruses that cause rubella and measles respectively were used. The patch has been designed to release the same amount of vaccine as given through the injection.
Rubella
Effective and safe
The levels of antibodies developed by the participants were measured just before the administration of the vaccine and, subsequently, 42 and 180 days after it. It emerged that the immunization obtained following the two different forms of administration is comparable: in both cases, approximately 90% of the children were immunized against measles and 100% against rubella. Furthermore, only mild side effects were detected, such as redness or hardening of the area affected by the administration.
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The authors of the study underline that it will be necessary to test this technology on a larger population, but they say they are generally enthusiastic about the results obtained: “Although it is still early, these are extremely promising results that have aroused great enthusiasm – they conclude Ed Clarke, pediatrician leading the Vaccines and Immunity Theme at the MRC Unit in The Gambia, research coordinator – They demonstrate for the first time that vaccines can be safely and effectively administered to infants and young children using microarray patch technology. The measles vaccine has the highest priority for administration with this approach, but administration of other vaccines using microarray patches is also now realistic.”
#Rubella #measles #vaccine #patch
– 2024-04-30 10:10:02
