Flu Vaccine Patch Could Replace Needles

For children who fear needles, getting their annual flu shot can be a very scary experience but a new vaccine patch maybe on the way to make the process much easier.

The little patch has the appearance of a band-aid with thousands of little microneedles that dissolve when the patch is applied to the skin, thus administering the vaccine through the skin and into the body.

Researchers at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology are behind the unique patch idea and have had great success with it in experiments on lab mice.

In lab experiments some mice received an influenza vaccine through regular needles and others received the experimental patch.

Three months later tests revealed that the mice given the patch had a better immune response to the vaccine than those given the traditional injection.

They say that in many cases, the vaccine patch may offer a better method of immunization than traditional needles and could one day lead to people vaccinating themselves in the comfort of their own home.

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