Vaccination against whooping cough could, in a few years, be done through the nose. INSERM has just published the first promising results of this nasal vaccine.
Vaccinate through the nose, it is not immediately but we get closer. The European research program CHILD-INNOVAC, coordinated by the Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), published on January 8 the results of a phase I trial in PLOS ONE.
No side effects
Whooping cough, far from having disappeared, is on the rise in developed countries. Each year in France, around 400,000 adults are affected by this highly contagious respiratory disease. Globally, 40 to 50 million cases are detected. INSERM considers this rise in pertussis “worrying” in the United States, Australia, Great Britain and France. Hence the development of the CHILD-INNOVAC project, which fights against the bacteria responsible for whooping cough and the virus that causes bronchiolitis in infants.
In order to verify the effectiveness of the vaccine, the team of researchers opted for Sweden, where vaccination was for a time abandoned because ineffective. Two objectives were set: to identify possible side effects and to evaluate the intake of the vaccine in the mucous membranes. After six months of follow-up, the team concluded that this nasal vaccine has no side effects and elicits a sufficient immune response. “What is particularly interesting was that a single nasal administration could induce an immune response that was maintained for at least 6 months, that is to say as long as the study,” specifies Camille Locht, coordinator of the project. “Cherry on the cake” according to the microbilogist: in mice, this mode of innoculation even triggers positive side effects. Indeed, the animals were protected from asthma and pneumonia.
Watch the interview with Camille Locht, coordinator of the CHILD-INNOVAC project:
Potential aid for developing countries
A nasal vaccine could of course be very successful in France and in Europe. But it is in developing countries that its strike force holds the most promise. Of the 300,000 children who die of whooping cough each year, many come from the poorest regions of the world. The lowest vaccination rates are found in Africa. Particularly because of the cost of vaccination per dose and per child. Where a dose costs $ 1, according to Unicef, vaccination costs $ 17 per child. Easy to inoculate, the nasal pertussis vaccine is especially cheaper than those currently available. “This original mode of administration will make the vaccine accessible to as many people as possible and at a lower cost,” says Camille Locht.
However, we are far from putting such a product on the market. This is only a phase I trial and the first attempt in humans. INSERM specifies in a press release that it will be necessary to further improve the stability of the vaccine and produce higher volumes in order to set up trials on several waves of inoculation.
.
