Nasal COVID-19 vaccine halts transmission

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A new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that next-generation vaccines that target the virus’s points of entry — the nose and mouth — may be able to do what traditional shots cannot: contain the spread of respiratory infections and prevent transmission. Using a nasal COVID-19 vaccine based on Washington University technology, approved for use in India and licensed to Ocugen for further development in the U.S., the researchers showed that vaccinated hamsters that developed infections did not pass the virus on to others, breaking the cycle of transmission. In contrast, an approved COVID-19 vaccine that is injected failed to prevent the spread of the virus.

https://medicine.wustl.edu/news/nasal-covid-19-vaccine-halts-transmission/

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

There's a lot of work and research going on currently with the notion of nasal vaccines. But as the final paragraph of the above cited announcement seems to make clear, that new approach for vaccination remains some ways off from being ready as a proven solution for prime-time, real-world human use.

 

“Mucosal vaccines are the future of vaccines for respiratory infections,” Boon said. “Historically, developing such vaccines has been challenging. There’s still so much we don’t know about the kind of immune response we need and how to elicit it. I think we’re going to see a lot of very exciting research in the next few years [emphasis added] that could lead to big improvements in vaccines for respiratory infections.”

 

One of the questions that seems to often arise with the nasal vaccine approach is just what the duration of effectiveness might be for any any given human administration. And that doesn't seem to be a topic that's addressed at all in the above OP announcement. In other words, if there was a human version of a COVID or avian flu nasal vaccine, how often would it have to be re-administered in order to provide continuing / ongoing protection?

 

 

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12 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

There's a lot of work and research going on currently with the notion of nasal vaccines. But as the final paragraph of the above cited announcement seems to make clear, that new approach for vaccination remains some ways off from being ready as a proven solution for prime-time, real-world human use.

 

“Mucosal vaccines are the future of vaccines for respiratory infections,” Boon said. “Historically, developing such vaccines has been challenging. There’s still so much we don’t know about the kind of immune response we need and how to elicit it. I think we’re going to see a lot of very exciting research in the next few years [emphasis added] that could lead to big improvements in vaccines for respiratory infections.”

 

One of the questions that seems to often arise with the nasal vaccine approach is just what the duration of effectiveness might be for any any given human administration. And that doesn't seem to be a topic that's addressed at all in the above OP announcement. In other words, if there was a human version of a COVID or avian flu nasal vaccine, how often would it have to be re-administered in order to provide continuing / ongoing protection?

 

 

According to the article, the nasal vaccine in question is already being used in India.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 8/1/2024 at 7:38 PM, placeholder said:

According to the article, the nasal vaccine in question is already being used in India.

 

Well, it's been approved in India...but in doing some searching, I couldn't readily find much of any indication of to what extent it's actually been / being used there. The Washington University announcements seem pretty quiet on that point.

 

Likewise, in doing some searching, I found Phase III trial data that mostly involved the India nasal vaccine impact in the blood work of humans against the original first COVID variant that arose in China... and nothing relating to the current crop of COVID virus variants.

 

I also was unable to find any studies that compared the nasal vaccine's actual impact on preventing illness and blocking transmission in human populations vs other vaccines such as the mRNA ones in comparable human populations (as opposed to just measuring their respective bloodwork immunity indicators).