fILE – Dental floss (Photo by: Universal Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
If you have a fear of needles, you may be in luck.
A recent study, which administered vaccines via dental floss, is showing early promise, according to researchers in North Carolina.
No more jabs?
The backstory:
Earlier studies have shown the mouth is an effective place to administer vaccines, according to researchers at North Carolina State University.
Vaccines that are delivered through the mouth have the potential to trigger immunity not only in the bloodstream, but they would also introduce immunity through the mucosal tissues that are present throughout the human body.
Tests that delivered vaccines to the cheeks and even under the tongue have shown mixed results, researchers said.
Floss laced with vaccines
Dig deeper:
Scientists coated dental floss with a variety of vaccine molecules and used the floss in mice.
The vaccine was successfully transferred into the mice’s gums, and researchers “saw strong immune activity” in the animals.
The mice were also tested to see if the floss would work for a fatal influenza infection and found that it fully protected them.
What they’re saying:
“The flossing technique also provides comparable protection against flu virus as compared to the vaccine being given via the nasal epithelium,” Rohan Ingrole at Texas Tech University, the study’s first author, said.
“This is extremely promising, because most vaccine formulations cannot be given via the nasal epithelium—the barrier features in that mucosal surface prevent efficient uptake of the vaccine,” Dr. Harvinder Singh Gill explained.
What’s next:
Researchers said this promising evidence warrants further study into needleless vaccinations.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from a National Institutes of Health news release.
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