“An effective dry powder vaccine would be tremendously helpful in less-developed regions where resources are limited,” says Diane Griffin, senior author of the report and chair of molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins University.
The current measles vaccine requires two injections to provide full immunity, one given at 9 to 12 months of age and another given later in childhood.
Special training for needle and syringe injections is needed to administer the vaccine, which requires refrigeration and is shipped as a powder that must be reconstituted and kept on ice in field clinics. Injections increase the risk of exposure to blood borne diseases.
“This (dry) vaccine can be shipped as powder and does not require reconstitution or special training to administer, which could greatly increase the ease and safety of measles vaccination worldwide,” Griffin says.
