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April 6, 2023 | 10:33 p.m
A new study has shown promising results for a nasal COVID-19 vaccine, according to researchers at the Institute of Virology at the Freie Universität Berlin in Germany.
When two doses of live nasal vaccine were given to hamsters, the animals showed a stronger immune response compared to their response to two doses of currently available vaccines.
The study was published in the journal Nature Microbiology on Monday.
The study’s lead author told Fox News Digital this week, “We found that a live attenuated vaccine prevents virus replication – this could be a game changer in controlling SARS-CoV-2 transmission .”
Right now, there are four approved vaccines for COVID in the US — all of which are given by injection into a muscle, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are both mRNA vaccines, which use mRNA (messenger RNA) to trigger cells to produce a viral protein.
It encourages the immune system to create antibodies.
Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen is a viral vector vaccine, which delivers DNA “instructions” to the body’s cells via another, harmless virus.
The Novavax vaccine is a protein subunit vaccine, which uses certain proteins of the virus that causes COVID-19 — known as “spike proteins” — to “train” the immune system to act against future spike proteins.
The nasal COVID vaccine being tested is a live-attenuated vaccine, which means it contains a live but weaker form of the coronavirus.
It works by stopping the virus in the upper airways before it can travel further into the body.
The researchers used Syrian hamsters for their vaccine testing.
The lead author of the study, Dr. Jakob Trimpert, head of diagnostics at the Institute of Virology at the Freie Universität Berlin in Germany, said that hamsters are “the main non-transgenic [not genetically modified] small animal model” for COVID-19 research.
“These animals have the great advantage of being naturally susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, including natural spread between hamsters,” he explained to Fox News Digital.
“Syrian hamster infection resembles many key features of moderate human COVID-19 – this makes the hamster an ideal model to study vaccines and therapies for COVID-19.”
Nasal vaccines have significant advantages over injectable vaccines currently available, said Dr. Trimpert.
“An intra-nasally applied live-attenuated vaccine provides more protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to an intramuscularly applied vaccine,” he told Fox News Digital.
Although he said currently marketed vaccines do a good job of preventing serious illness from COVID, Dr. Trimpert that they do not prevent infection, moderate pain or spread.
“We found that a live attenuated vaccine inhibits virus replication” — so “it could be a game changer in controlling SARS-CoV-2 transmission.”
The main benefit of a nasal vaccine is that immunity is activated where it is needed, said Dr. Trimpert.
“It’s the induction of local immunity at the site of natural infection that could be a game-changer here,” he said.
“Judging from our results, this has a significant effect and greatly reduces the risk of infection.”
Dr. Marc Siegel, professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center and a Fox News medical contributor, said he sees this new research as hopeful. He was not involved in the study.
“The goal is very important: to create a barrier to stop the spread of the virus,” he told Fox News Digital.
“It involves IGA antibodies and works at the level of mucus membranes.”
IGA, or Immunoglobulin A, is an antibody that plays an important part in the immune function of mucous membranes.
The mucous membrane, or the nasal mucosa, is the tissue that lines the nasal cavity.
The nasal vaccine can either stand alone or work in conjunction with other vaccines, says Dr. Siegel.
“If it is effective and the human trials of the German vaccine continue, it will be a big step forward,” he said.
Also reviewed by Dr. Norman B. Gaylis, who has treated more than 1,000 patients at his Long Haul COVID Clinic in Aventura, Florida, made the findings.
“I believe it’s a brilliant idea to create a vaccine that can build immunity in the nasal mucosa,” he told Fox News Digital.
“Research has shown that COVID and other viruses often enter the nose, and travel to the olfactory nerve … and then to the brain,” he explained.
Developing a nasal vaccine could help prevent viruses from gaining easy access to the brain, said Dr. Gaylis.
“This is important because many ‘long COVID’ patients report brain damage from the virus,” he added.
In addition, a nasal vaccine would provide a useful alternative for patients with a fear of needles, allowing them to be protected without a jab, the doctor said.
As of July 2022, there are at least 12 nasal COVID vaccines in clinical development, according to Science Immunology.
Biotechnology company Codagenix announced in October 2022 that it entered Phase 3 clinical trials for CoviLiv, its intranasal COVID-19 vaccine intended for healthy adults.
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City has launched a Phase 1 study testing a new egg-based COVID vaccine, called NDV-HXP-S, that can be administered nasally or by muscular injection.
In June 2022, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases published a study describing the effectiveness of nasal COVID vaccines in hamsters.
This was followed by another study in September 2022, which showed that nasal vaccines produced a strong immune response in rhesus monkeys.
Both China and India have approved nasal COVID vaccines for humans, as reported in the journal Nature in September 2022.
Iran and Russia have also approved nasal forms of the vaccine, although there is limited data available about their effectiveness.
The German research team plans to continue investigating the effectiveness of its vaccines and hopes to move on to clinical trials.
“While our results in the animal model are robust, only clinical trials can ensure translatability to human medicine,” said Dr. Trimpert.
Questions remain about the safety of the vaccine for people with weakened immune systems and the potential risk of combining it with different variants of the virus.
The CDC states that severely immunocompromised people and pregnant women should avoid live vaccines.
said Dr. Trimpert, “We think there is reason to hope for next-generation COVID-19 vaccines that better control the transmission of the virus and greatly reduce the burden of the disease.”
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