Discovery of Changes in Vaccine Administration
On January 1, according to relevant media reports, a new study published by a research team from the University of Pittsburgh in Nature pointed out that although most people in the world have been vaccinated, the number of deaths from tuberculosis is higher than any other There are many infectious diseases. Simply changing the way the vaccine is administered can greatly enhance its protective ability.
Benefits of Changing Vaccine Administration Methods
Scientific researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) have found that compared with standard injections that are injected directly into the skin, intravenous tuberculosis vaccine has a strong protective effect on monkeys. Standard injections into the skin provide only minimal protection. Dr. JoAnne Flynn, one of the researchers, said: “The effect is amazing. When we compare the lungs of animals that are vaccinated intravenously with those that are vaccinated by the standard route, we find that the bacterial load is reduced. 100,000 times, 9 out of 10 animals have no lung inflammation."
Testing for Changes in Vaccine Administration
In order to test whether this method of administration has a certain effect on tuberculosis, Flynn and her colleagues divided the study monkey population into six groups: unvaccinated, standard human injection, larger dose but the same injection route, spray , Injection plus spray and larger doses of BCG vaccine are injected directly into the vein as a single injection. Six months later, the researchers exposed the animals to tuberculosis and monitored them for signs of infection.
Monkeys are extremely susceptible to tuberculosis. All animals that receive standard human injections have persistent lung inflammation. The average number of tuberculosis bacilli in their lungs is only slightly lower than that of unvaccinated monkeys. Another type of injectable and inhaled vaccine has similar moderate TB protection. On the other hand, intravenous vaccines provide almost complete protection. The lungs of these animals were almost free of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and only one monkey in this group developed lung inflammation. Flynn's research team found BCG vaccine and activated T lymphocytes in the lungs of all intravenously vaccinated animals. In the other groups, BCG vaccine was not detected in lung tissue, and the activated T lymphocyte response was relatively weak.
Monkeys are extremely susceptible to tuberculosis. All animals that receive standard human injections have persistent lung inflammation. The average number of tuberculosis bacilli in their lungs is only slightly lower than that of unvaccinated monkeys. Another type of injectable and inhaled vaccine has similar moderate TB protection. On the other hand, intravenous vaccines provide almost complete protection. The lungs of these animals were almost free of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and only one monkey in this group developed lung inflammation. Flynn's research team found BCG vaccine and activated T lymphocytes in the lungs of all intravenously vaccinated animals. In the other groups, BCG vaccine was not detected in lung tissue, and the activated T lymphocyte response was relatively weak.
Defects of Changing Vaccine Administration Methods
In the next step, the researchers plan to test whether low-dose intravenous BCG can provide the same degree of protection without side effects, which are mainly temporary inflammation of the lungs. But before this method is used in adult humans, researchers need more experiments to prove that it is safe and effective. Because intravenous vaccine requires more technology to manage and has a higher risk of infection.
