A new type of COVID-19 nasal spray vaccine Taiwan’s researchers are developing have shown more effective than the traditional shot in animal trials, and has a chance to enter human trials in the first half of 2022, a research team from National Taiwan University (NTU) said Wednesday.
While traditional intramuscular injection of COVID-19 vaccines can produce immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody responses in the lower respiratory tract, administering the developing nasal spray vaccine can induce not only IgG but also immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies in the upper respiratory tract to prevent the spread of the virus, according to Huang Li-min (???), head of the Department of Pediatrics at National Taiwan University Hospital.
Antibodies are substances made by the body’s immune system in response to bacteria, viruses, fungus, animal dander, or cancer cells.
Testing of the intranasal COVID-19 vaccine on animals found that it was doing even better than a shot, Huang noted, adding that if adequate funds are secured, human trials of the vaccine delivered via the nose might start in the first half of next year.
The Wuhan strain, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has been used for the trials and other variants might be used for future testing if there is a need, according to Huang.
Meanwhile, Ni Yen-hsuan (???), dean of NTU’s College of Medicine, said the NTU team in collaboration with the business sector have developed a cloud-based mobile platform for remote monitoring of the oxygen levels of people diagnosed with COVID-19 to reduce sudden deaths of COVID-19 patients caused by silent hypoxia.
Silent hypoxia is defined as a condition where an individual feels well but has alarmingly lower oxygen saturation level than anticipated.
The system is used by the Taoyuan City government to monitor the situation at Taoyuan International Airport.
The NTU team has introduced the Microsoft HoloLens mixed-reality headsets on NTU hospital COVID-19 wards to keep doctors safe as they help COVID-19 patients, Ni added.
The results are part of the COVID-19 prevention achievements presented by the Research Center for Epidemic Prevention Science which was established last year by the Ministry of Science and Technology with a budget of about NT$185 million (US$6.62 million).
The ministry announced Wednesday it will spend another NT$600 million from next year to 2025 on developing new research and techniques for epidemic prevention.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel