Microneedle patch for flu vaccination.

• Position: Influenza

An influenza vaccine can produce robust immune responses and be administered safely with an experimental patch of dissolving microneedles, indicates a study led by a team at Atlanta's Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology. The method is an alternative to needle-and-syringe immunization; with further development, it could eliminate the discomfort of an injection as well as the inconvenience and expense of visiting a flu clinic.

According to the study: "This bandage-strip-sized patch of painless and dissolvable needles can transform how we get vaccinated. A particularly attractive feature is that this vaccination patch could be delivered in the mail and self-administered. In addition, this technology holds promise for delivering other vaccines in the future."

The vaccine patch consists of 100 solid, water-soluble needles that are just long enough to penetrate the skin. 'The skin is an immune surveillance organ," says Mark R. Prausnitz, regents professor and chair in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech. "It's our interface with the outside world, so ifs very well equipped to detect a pathogen and mount an immune response against it."

Adhesive helps the patch grip the skin during the administration of the...