Floss-based flu vaccine may offer needle-free alternative
What if you could floss your way to a flu vaccine? In a novel approach to needle-free vaccination, researchers have developed a form of dental floss that delivers inactive flu virus and protein antigens directly to the gums, triggering strong immune responses in mice. The study, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, suggests the gumline can effectively absorb vaccine components.
Led by Harvinder Gill of North Carolina State University and Rohan Ingrole of Texas Tech University, the team found that flossing mice with vaccine-coated threads resulted in high antibody levels in their lungs, noses, feces and spleens. When exposed to the flu virus, all mice that had been flossed three times survived, according to the study, while all unvaccinated mice died.
The flossed mice showed systemic immune responses, including flu antibodies in their bone marrow and increased T-cell activity. A test in 27 healthy human volunteers using dyed floss showed 60% absorption of the dye into gums.
The researchers surveyed the participants on what they thought of the approach. Most said they were open to trying a floss-based vaccine and would prefer it to a needle-based vaccine, according to the study.
Read more: Science
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