How to fight the next flu pandemic: a vaccine without nurses, clinics or syringes
On the 100th anniversary of the 1918 flu pandemic that killed millions, researchers have come up with a vaccine patch that is applied to the skin, removing the need for medical professionals to administer the vaccine
When the next deadly pandemic flu hits, the first challenge will be to develop a vaccine. But looming behind that obstacle is another: how to get an inoculation to millions of people without inadvertently exacerbating the crisis.
After all, droves of people – some perhaps already sickened – who flock to health centres for a shot could be a potent way for the infection to spread.
On the 100th anniversary of the influenza pandemic of 1918 that infected a third of the world’s population and killed 50 million people, vaccine researchers are searching urgently for new approaches to prepare for the next pandemic – a threat most public health officials consider inevitable.
What they’re suggesting is something you could stick in an envelope and get to people rapidly – it’s an important breakthrough technology
A new study provides proof of concept for a solution that could upend the traditional centralised model, in which health professionals give injections at clinics.