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April 6, 2023 | 10:33 PM
A new study shows promising results for an intranasal COVID-19 vaccine, according to researchers at the Institute of Virology at the Free University of Berlin in Germany.
Hamsters vaccinated with two doses of the live nasal vaccine had a stronger immune response than those vaccinated with two doses of currently available vaccines.
The study was published Monday in the journal Nature Microbiology.
The study’s lead author told Fox News Digital this week:
There are currently four licensed COVID vaccines in the US. They are all given by injection into the muscle, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s vaccines are mRNA vaccines, which use mRNA (messenger RNA) to direct cells to produce viral proteins.
This triggers the immune system to create antibodies.
Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen is a viral vector vaccine that delivers DNA “instructions” to the body’s cells via another harmless virus.
The Novavax vaccine is a protein subunit vaccine, which uses several proteins from the virus that causes COVID-19, known as ‘spike proteins’, to “target” the immune system to work against future spike proteins. train.
The nasal COVID vaccine being tested is a live attenuated vaccine. That is, it contains a live but weaker form of the coronavirus.
It works by stopping viruses in the upper respiratory tract before they can enter the body.
Researchers used Syrian hamsters to test the vaccine.
Hamsters are “the leading non-transgenic animal,” said Dr. Jakob Trimpert, lead author of the study and head of diagnostics at the Institute for Virology at the Free University of Berlin in Germany. [not genetically modified] A small animal model for COVID-19 research”.
“These animals have the great advantage of being naturally susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, including natural spread among hamsters,” he explained to Fox News Digital.
“Syrian hamster infection resembles many key features of moderate human COVID-19, which makes hamsters an ideal model for studying vaccines and treatments for COVID-19. increase.”
Dr. Trimpert said nasal vaccines have significant advantages over currently available injectable vaccines.
“Live attenuated vaccines applied intranasally offer superior protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to vaccines applied intramuscularly,” he told Fox News Digital.
Dr. Trimpert said vaccines currently on the market are excellent at preventing severe illness from COVID, but they do nothing to prevent infection, mitigate disease or spread it. I pointed out no.
“We found that a live attenuated vaccine prevents viral replication”—that is, “this could be a game changer in controlling SARS-CoV-2 infection.”
Dr. Trimpert said the main advantage of nasal vaccines is that immunity is activated where it is needed.
“What could be a game changer here is the induction of local immunity at the site of natural infection,” he said.
“Judging by our results, this is quite effective and significantly reduces the risk of infection.”
Marc Siegel, M.D., professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center and Fox News medical contributor, says the new research is promising. He was not involved in research.
“The goal is very important: create a barrier to stop the spread of the virus,” he told Fox News Digital.
“It involves IGA antibodies, which work at the level of the mucosa.”
IGA, or immunoglobulin A, is an antibody that plays an important role in mucosal immune function.
The mucosa, or nasal mucosa, is the tissue that lines the inside of the nasal cavity.
The nasal vaccine can be used alone or in combination with other vaccines, Dr. Siegel said.
“If it’s effective and clinical trials of the German vaccine are underway, that would be a big step forward,” he said.
Dr. Norman B. Geilis, who has treated more than 1,000 patients at his long-distance COVID clinic in Aventura, Fla., also reviewed the findings.
“I think it’s a great idea to create a vaccine that can build immunity in the nasal mucosa,” he told Fox News Digital.
“Studies show that COVID and other viruses often enter through the nose, travel up the olfactory nerves … and reach the brain,” he explained.
Developing an intranasal vaccine could help prevent the virus from easily entering the brain, Dr. Geilis said.
“This is important because many ‘long COVID’ patients report brain damage from the virus,” he added.
In addition, the nasal vaccine offers a useful alternative for patients who are afraid of needles and can protect them without being stung, doctors said.
As of July 2022, there were at least 12 nasal COVID vaccines in clinical development, according to Science Immunology.
Biotechnology company Codagenix announced in October 2022 that CoviLiv, an intranasal COVID-19 vaccine in healthy adults, has entered Phase 3 clinical trials.
The Icahn School of Medicine in Mount Sinai, New York City, has initiated a phase 1 trial evaluating a new egg-based COVID vaccine called NDV-HXP-S. The vaccine can be administered nasally or intramuscularly.
In June 2022, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases published a study showing the effectiveness of nasal COVID vaccines in hamsters.
This was followed by another study in September 2022 showing that nasal vaccines elicit strong immune responses in rhesus monkeys.
Both China and India have approved nasal COVID vaccines for humans, as reported in Nature in September 2022.
Iran and Russia have also approved nasal vaccines, but data on efficacy are limited.
The German research team plans to continue investigating the efficacy of the vaccine and looks forward to moving it into clinical trials.
“Although our results in animal models are robust, only clinical trials can confirm the potential for medical applications in humans,” Dr. Trimpert said.
Questions remain about the vaccine’s safety for people with weakened immune systems and the potential risk of combining it with different variants of the virus.
The CDC says people with severe immunocompromises and pregnant women should avoid live vaccines.
Dr. Trimpert said:
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