Agency reporter, Published: Friday, 19 Feb 2010 |
Scientists at Oxford University in the United Kingdom have found a way of keeping vaccines stable without refrigeration.
Writing in Science Translational Medicine, they say the breakthrough could significantly help efforts to immunise more children in rural Africa.
According to the BBC, the researchers mixed the vaccines with two types of sugar before slowly drying them on a filter paper.
This preserved the jabs, which were then easily reactivated when needed for injection.
Reacting to the development, the Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr. Adedamola Dada, said that it would revolution immunization programmes in developing countries.
He stated that one of the problems of immunization was how to store vaccines, particularly in developing countries where power supply was not regular.
”It is a revolution. It increases access to vaccines, particularly in countries where energy is in crisis,” he added.
The need to keep vaccines cool - to stop them deteriorating - is often difficult in developing countries where fridges, clinics and an electricity supply cannot be taken for granted.
Writing in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the scientists describe how they managed to keep vaccines stable for up to six months at 45C.
Writing in Science Translational Medicine, they say the breakthrough could significantly help efforts to immunise more children in rural Africa.
According to the BBC, the researchers mixed the vaccines with two types of sugar before slowly drying them on a filter paper.
This preserved the jabs, which were then easily reactivated when needed for injection.
Reacting to the development, the Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr. Adedamola Dada, said that it would revolution immunization programmes in developing countries.
He stated that one of the problems of immunization was how to store vaccines, particularly in developing countries where power supply was not regular.
”It is a revolution. It increases access to vaccines, particularly in countries where energy is in crisis,” he added.
The need to keep vaccines cool - to stop them deteriorating - is often difficult in developing countries where fridges, clinics and an electricity supply cannot be taken for granted.
Writing in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the scientists describe how they managed to keep vaccines stable for up to six months at 45C.
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