ST. LOUIS, Mo. (Ivanhoe Newswire) – COVID-19 – it seems like either you’ve had it or know someone who has. To date, there have been 104 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States with more than 1.1 million deaths. Sixty-nine percent of the U.S. population is considered fully vaccinated. But continuing with the boosters and the vaccinations may be key to not getting it. And now, immunization from COVID-19 could be as simple as a nasal drop. COVID vaccine
We’ve been poked, and poked, and poked again and again. In fact, many people are now on their fifth COVID-19 vaccine jab. But now, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis are working on nasal drops that could be key to stopping the transmission of the virus before it enters the body.
The two main advantages – no needles and that it triggers an immune response in the nose and upper airway, right where the virus enters the body – blocking the infection and breaking the cycle of transmission, unlike the current vaccine.
“A systemic injection, like mRNA, will augment antibodies in the blood, not so much in the lung. Airway vaccination, nasal vaccination augments antibodies in the nose and airways. And that’s a better defense,” says Washington University in St. Louis radiation oncologist, David Curiel, MD, PhD.
Without using mRNA, researchers are targeting fiber proteins on the virus.
Dr. Curiel explains, “We’re trying to engineer these proteins so that we can infect the nose even better than our present vaccine.”
It’s the world’s first internasal vaccine approved in India as both a primary vaccine for COVID-19 and a booster.
The nasal drop vaccine is also quickly adaptable, so it can be quickly modified to match new variants that emerge of the COVID-19 virus. The nasal drops are already being manufactured in India, Europe, Japan and should be ready to be presented to the FDA in the United States by the end of the year.
Contributors to this news report include: Marsha Lewis, Producer; Roque Correa, Videographer & Editor.
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Source:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1101932/coronavirus-covid19-cases-and-deaths-number-us-americans
MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS
RESEARCH SUMMARY
TOPIC: NO MORE NEEDLES! NEW COVID VACCINE NASAL DROPS
REPORT: MB #5232
BACKGROUND: Different types of vaccines work in different ways to offer protection. But with all types of vaccines, the body is left with a supply of “memory” T-lymphocytes as well as B-lymphocytes that will remember how to fight that virus in the future. To trigger an immune response, many vaccines put a weakened or inactivated germ into our bodies. mRNA vaccines use mRNA created in a laboratory to teach our cells how to make a protein—or even just a piece of a protein—that triggers an immune response inside our bodies. This immune response, which produces antibodies, is what helps protect us from getting sick from that germ in the future. About 270 million people, or 81% of the population have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine and overall, at least 230 million people, or 70% of the population are considered fully vaccinated.
(Sources: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/how-they-work.html
https://usafacts.org/visualizations/covid-vaccine-tracker-states)
SYMPTOMS AND DIAGNOSING: People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. Anyone can have mild to severe symptoms. Possible symptoms include: fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, new loss of taste and/or smell, sore throat, and/or nausea or vomiting. Viral tests look for a current infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, by testing specimens from your nose or mouth. All tests should be performed following FDA’s requirements. There are two main types of viral tests: polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests and antigen tests.
NEW TECHNOLOGY: A nasal COVID-19 vaccine based on technology licensed from Washington University in St. Louis has been approved for emergency use in India as a booster for people who have already received two doses of other COVID-19 vaccines. The approval follows the Indian government’s emergency use authorization in September 2022 of the vaccine as a primary series of two doses, and makes the intranasal vaccine the world’s first to receive approval as both a primary vaccine for COVID-19 and a booster. The main advantage of the nasal vaccine — other than that it doesn’t require a needle — is that it triggers an immune response in the nose and upper airway, right where the virus enters the body. In doing so, it has the potential to block infection and break the cycle of transmission. The technology underlying this nasal vaccine is also adaptable, so the vaccine can be quickly and easily modified to match emerging variants of concern.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS REPORT, PLEASE CONTACT:
Judy Martin Finch
If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Marjorie Bekaert Thomas at mthomas@ivanhoe.com
