Novel patch can better deliver polio vaccines: study

A novel patch that delivers polio vaccines may be more effective than oral doses or syringes, a study has found.

The microscopic vaccine delivery platform called Nanopatch is a significant step forward in the efforts to rid the world of polio, researchers said.

"Polio was one of the most dreaded childhood diseases of the 20th century, resulting in limb disfigurement and irreversible paralysis in tens of millions of cases," said Paul Young, professor at University of Queensland (UQ) in Australia.

"This most recent study showed the Nanopatch enhanced responses to all three types of inactivated poliovirus vaccines (IPV) - a necessary advancement from using the current live oral vaccine," said Young.

Patch inventor Professor Mark Kendall said the study exhibited a key advantage of the Nanopatch.

"It targets the abundant immune cell populations in the skins outer layers, rather than muscle, resulting in a more efficient vaccine delivery system," Kendall said.

"The ease of administration, coupled with dose reduction observed in this study suggests that the Nanopatch could facilitate inexpensive vaccination of inactivated poliovirus vaccines," he said.

"A simple, easy-to-administer polio Nanopatch vaccine could increase the availability of the IPV vaccine and facilitate its administration in door-to-door and mass vaccination campaigns," said David Muller researcher at UQ.

"As recently as 1988, more than 350,000 cases occurred every year in more than 125 endemic countries," said Muller.

"Concerted efforts to eradicate the disease have reduced incidence by more than 99 per cent," he said.