Health
COVID-19 Vaccine Patch Does Not Require Cold Chain Transport – Medgadget
Researchers at the University of Queensland and Vaxxas, a medtech company, announced the development of a high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP) that can deliver a COVID-19 vaccine through the skin without the need for needles. While such minimally invasive vaccine technology is to be welcomed, the major breakthrough is the temperature stability of the vaccine. The researchers were able to stabilize the formulation on the patch so that it can last for one month at room temperature and one week at 40 degrees Celsius (104 F), meaning that the new vaccine technology could help to overcome the cold chain transport hurdles.
Skin-affixed patches offer a variety of advantages over traditional needle injections, including less pain and irritation, and ease of use with people who have trouble with needles, such as young children. There has been a recent spate of microneedle technologies that are intended to deliver a variety of therapeutics through the skin, and it was perhaps only a matter of time before someone applied this technology to a COVID-19 vaccine.
However, the most exciting thing about this vaccine is perhaps not the HD-MAP delivery technology, but rather the logistical potential in its temperature stability. The researchers adapted their system to deliver the low-cost Hexapro vaccine, which was developed at the University of Texas.
“When the Hexapro vaccine is delivered via HD-MAP applicator – rather than a needle – it produces better and faster immune responses,” said David Muller, a researcher involved in the study, via a press release. “It also neutralizes multiple variants, including the UK and South Africa variants. And it’s much more user-friendly than a needle – you simply ‘click’ an applicator on the skin, and 5000 microscopic projections almost-imperceptibly deliver vaccine into the skin.”
The temperature stability of the vaccine could be a game changer in developing countries, where vaccine supplies have been slowed by the need for cold chain transport and cold storage.
“Hexapro, delivered by the high-density microarray patch, could dramatically assist global vaccine rollout effort, particularly for billions of vulnerable people in low- and middle-income countries,” said Muller. “We’ve shown this vaccine, when dry-coated on a patch, is stable for at least 30 days at 25 degrees Celsius and one week at 40 degrees, so it doesn’t have the cold chain requirements of some of the current options.”
So far, the researchers have tested the technology in mice, with promising results, and hope to progress to clinician trials soon.
Here’s a video with the researchers that developed the new vaccine delivery system:
Study in Science Advances: Complete protection by a single-dose skin patch–delivered SARS-CoV-2 spike vaccine
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Grande Prairie RCMP issued a warning Friday after it was revealed fentanyl linked to a deadly overdose was mixed with a chemical that doesn’t respond to naloxone treatment.
The drugs were initially seized on Feb. 28 after a fatal overdose, and this week, Health Canada reported back to Mounties that the fentanyl had been mixed with Bromazolam, which is a benzodiazepine.
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Mounties say this is the first recorded instance of Bromazolam in Alberta. The drug has previously been linked to nine fatal overdoses in New Brunswick in 2022.
The pills seized in Alberta were oval-shaped and stamped with “20” and “SS,” though Mounties say it can come in other forms.
Naloxone treatment, given in many cases of opioid toxicity, is not effective in reversing the effects of Bromazalam, Mounties said, and therefore, any fentanyl mixed with the benzodiazepine “would see a reduced effectiveness of naloxone, requiring the use of additional doses and may still result in a fatality.”
From January to November of last year, there were 1,706 opioid-related deaths in Alberta, and 57 linked to benzodiazepine, up from 1,375 and 43, respectively, in 2022.
Mounties say officers responded to about 1,100 opioid-related calls for service, last year with a third of those proving fatal. RCMP officers also used naloxone 67 times while in the field, a jump of nearly a third over the previous year.
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Health
CFIA continues surveillance for HPAI in cattle, while sticking with original name for disease – RealAgriculture
The Canada Food Inspection Agency will continue to refer to highly pathogenic avian influenza in cattle as HPAI in cattle, and not refer to it as bovine influenza A virus (BIAV), as suggested by the American Association of Bovine Practitioners earlier this month.
Dr. Martin Appelt, senior director for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, in the interview below, says at this time Canada will stick with “HPAI in cattle” when referencing the disease that’s been confirmed in dairy cattle in multiple states in the U.S.
The CFIA’s naming policy is consistent with the agency’s U.S. counterparts’, as the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has also said it will continue referring to it as HPAI or H5N1.
Appelt explains how the CFIA is learning from the U.S. experience to-date, and how it is working with veterinarians across Canada to stay vigilant for signs of the disease in dairy and beef cattle.
As of April 19, there has not been a confirmed case of HPAI in cattle in Canada. Appelt says it’s too soon to say if an eventual positive case will significantly restrict animal movement, as is the case with positive poultry cases.
This is a major concern for the cattle industry, as beef cattle especially move north and south across the U.S. border by the thousands. Appelt says that CFIA will address an infection in each species differently in conjunction with how the disease is spread and the threat to neighbouring farms or livestock.
Currently, provincial dairy organizations have advised producers to postpone any non-essential tours of dairy barns, as a precaution, in addition to other biosecurity measures to reduce the risk of cattle contracting HPAI.
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Health
Toronto reports 2 more measles cases. Use our tool to check the spread in Canada – Toronto Star
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Canada has seen a concerning rise in measles cases in the first months of 2024.
By the third week of March, the country had already recorded more than three times the number of cases as all of last year. Canada had just 12 cases of measles in 2023, up from three in 2022.
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