Vaccines in tattoo form

Vaccines in tattoo form!

WHEN Edward Jenner pioneered the concept of vaccination, it was heralded as a major milestone in the medical field. Ever since, we have been able to battle countless number of diseases and keep them at bay.

            But, how many of us are happy about the actual process of vaccination? The very sight of a smiling nurse or doctor approaching with the glinting needle of a syringe while extruding the first drop from the nozzle can terrify any mortal being. This holds true even for grown-ups, let alone the case of children Parents have the additional burden of comforting their wailing children during and after the time of vaccination. Only if science cold put an end to this ordeal!

            The relentless prayer of countless people who dread needles has prompted technology to come up with an alternative. Nanotechnology has now been employed to engineer patches that can effectively deliver vaccines without needless.

            Called “nanopatches”, these are small square frames containing thousands of nano-scale projections coated with miniscule amounts of the vaccines. On application to the skin surface, the nanoneedles pierce through the outer skin layers and deliver the bio-agent right into the immune cells found abundantly in the epidermis.

            Smaller than the size of postal stamps (app. 5mm×5mm), nanopatches can be designed in two forms – those that can dissolve into the skin and those that need to be removed after application.

            Apart from being pain-free, are there any other advantages over their needle counterparts? Certainly! Nanopatches can elicit a greater immune response because the conventional needles target the vaccine into muscle tissues that contain less number of immune cells. Intradermal and Intra-Muscular (IM) routes of delivery require up to 1 ml vaccine, whereas delivery via nanopatches is a matter of just a few microliters! This allows the immunization of a larger population with smaller amounts.

            Moreover, vaccines are deposited on the nanoprojections  by a process called dry coating, thereby bypassing the requirement for cold chain. Being a high cost and energy-intensive process, it is considered to be one of the major limitations in the logistics the availability of vaccines. It also restricts the availability of vaccines in rural areas.

            The technology, masterminded by Professor Mark Kendall from the University of Queensland, Australia, was conceived within the goal of improving the cost and efficiency of vaccination. Preclinical trials conducted by Professor Kendall in mice using flu vaccine established the dose sparing benefits and higher biological response compared to IM injection.

            If these studies can be successfully translated into humans, nanopatches will be the next major breakthrough as the Grand Challenges in the global health has identified the development of a needle free vaccination system as a major challenge in the global healthcare sector.

            It might not be too long when everyone could self-vaccinate painlessly with the ease of using a sticker tattoo!