Needle-Free Measles Vaccine Expected To Enter Clinical Trials In India Next Year

Main Category: Immune System / Vaccines
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Article Date: 18 Aug 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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"A new needle-free measles vaccine with the potential to save thousands of children's lives" is set to enter clinical trials in India next year, "where measles kills almost 200,000" infants and children annually, the Press Association reports. Doctors believe that the vaccine, which is "the first of its kind" and "uses an inhalable dry powder to administer a weakened measles virus to the lungs … will be more effective against the disease and avoid the risk of dirty needle infection," the news service writes (8/16).

"Robert Sievers, Ph.D., who leads the team that developed the dry-powder vaccine, said it's a perfect fit for use in back-roads areas of developing countries," where there is often no "electricity for refrigeration, clean water and sterile needles needed to administer traditional liquid vaccines," an American Chemical Society/EurekAlert! release writes. The vaccine is still being tested on animals for safety (8/16).

Sievers also said that in addition to reducing the "risk of infection from HIV, hepatitis and other serious diseases due to unsterilised needles," inhalable vaccines "may prove more effective against disease," according to the Press Association (8/16).

This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org.

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