CBS News : declared in Flu vaccine patch seems as effective as flu shot

An experimental flu vaccine patch with dissolving microneedles appears safe and effective, a preliminary study shows. "A particularly attractive feature is that this vaccination patch could be delivered in the mail and self-administered. The flu vaccine is released by the microneedles, which dissolve within a few minutes. "This development eliminates the need for intramuscular injection [a flu shot] by a health care professional," he added. The patch has 100 solid, water-soluble and painless microneedles that are just long enough to penetrate the skin.

New experimental vaccine patch could replace getting shots from your doctor

An experimental vaccine patch is being tested on the flu vaccine, administering it through 100 dissolving "microneedles." "One of the biggest advantages is that it doesn't have to be refrigerated, so ease of transport, ease of delivery," explained Dr. Edwards. Still, Dr. Edwards calls this "a step in the right direction" toward changing the future of vaccination. "I think it's brilliant," remarked Dr. Edwards. "Not really that scared," he said about getting shots, although it was a different story when he was four.


[ 6 Flu Vaccine Myths ]Four weeks after receiving the microneedle vaccine patch, 70 percent of the participants said that they'd prefer getting their flu vaccine this way, according to the study. Health care workers gave one group the traditional flu shot, the second group the microneedle vaccine patch and the third group a placebo microneedle patch, according to the study. Still, more research is needed to explore how effective the microneedle patch-delivered flu vaccine is, Höschler and Zambon wrote. In the study, which was a phase I clinical trial, the researchers looked at how a "dissolvable microneedle patch" that contained the flu vaccine stacked up against the traditional flu shot . The people in the fourth group put the microneedle patch on themselves after watching a short, instructional video.


collected by :Lucy William

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