Rapid acting, oral vaccines are coming soon

A new paper in Biology Methods and Protocols, published by Oxford University Press, indicates that researchers studying SARS-CoV-2 may have developed new methods to administer vaccines orally, which would be both easier to administer and more effective at combatting illnesses. The best way to neutralize viruses is before they can enter inside human cells but are only on the external surface of epithelial cells that line and produce mucus in the lungs, nose, and mouth. A specific class of antibodies known as Immunoglobulin A operate in mucus and can disable viruses. However, production of specific immunoglobulins/antibodies for a given virus has to be first induced by a vaccination. Vaccination that effectively produces Immunoglobulin A antibodies rapidly would better prevent disease. Since the coronavirus, like influenza, infects bronchial cells, researchers believe it is important to induce the secretion of virus antigen-specific Immunoglobulin A in the mucosa rather than in the blood. Recently, scientists...