AI Summary
This article discusses a new study that suggests nasal COVID-19 vaccines may be more effective in preventing virus spread compared to traditional vaccines. Researchers found that vaccinated hamsters did not pass the virus on to others, breaking the cycle of transmission. This indicates that mucosal vaccines, such as nasal sprays, could be crucial in controlling respiratory infections like COVID-19 and influenza. The study highlights the importance of targeting the virus's points of entry to reduce transmission and protect against illness and death.
The lightning-fast development of COVID-19 vaccines just months after the virus appeared was a triumph of modern science and saved millions of lives. But for all the good they did in reducing illnesses and deaths, the shots were unable to end the pandemic because of one notable weakness: They couldn’t stop the spread of the virus.
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 aĀ nasal COVID-19 vaccineĀ 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.
The findings, published July 31 in Science Advances, provide further evidence that so-called mucosal vaccines sprayed into the nose or dropped into the mouth may be the key to controlling respiratory infections such as influenza and COVID-19 that continue to circulate and cause significant illness and death.
To prevent transmission, you need to keep the amount of virus in the upper airways low. The less virus that is there to begin with, the less likely you are to infect someone else