From GoodGoodGood (thanks to Pam P.)
Getting an annual flu or COVID-19 shot is never a particularly pleasant experience, especially for those who aren’t too keen on getting a jab in the arm.
While nasal spray vaccines have been added as an alternative, and scientists continue to study their efficacy, a new group of researchers is testing a new delivery method: Dental floss.
Scientists at North Carolina State University have demonstrated a novel vaccine delivery method in animal trials, wherein dental floss is used to introduce a vaccine through the tissue between the teeth and gums.
In a recent round of testing, researchers found that the new technique stimulates the production of antibodies in mucosal surfaces, like the lining of the nose and lungs.
“Mucosal surfaces are important, because they are a source of entry for pathogens, such as influenza and COVID,” Harvinder Singh Gill, corresponding author of a recent study about the dental floss method, said in a statement.
“However, if a vaccine is given by injection, antibodies are primarily produced in the bloodstream throughout the body, and relatively few antibodies are produced on mucosal surfaces.”
Gill explained that when a vaccine is given via a mucosal surface, antibodies are stimulated in both the bloodstream and mucosal surfaces.
“This improves the body’s ability to prevent infection, because there is an additional line of antibody defense before a pathogen enters the body,” he explained.
While most tissues that line the surface of a person’s organs, like the lungs, stomach, and intestines, have built-in barriers to keep viruses and dirt from entering the bloodstream, the tissue that lines the teeth and gums is different. (continued on Page 2 or here)