ATLANTA -- Emory University is looking for volunteers to help them learn more about new technology that could change the way we get the flu vaccine.
A new clinical study is testing the safety and effectiveness of microneedle patches applied to the skin. The study is currently underway and enrolling volunteers.
The patches are about the size of a quarter and contain a tiny needles that are barely visible to the eye. The microneedles penetrate the upper layers of the skin and deliver the vaccine.
This is the first time the patches have been tested using actual flu vaccine.
Researchers at Georgia Tech, led by Mark Prausnitz, PhD, Regents Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and collaborators at Emory University School of Medicine, have been developing the patches in a project funded by the National Institutes of Health.
They are looking for up to 100 participants for the study to be conducted at the Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center. Healthy adults between ages 18 and 49 who did not receive a flu shot in the 2014-2015 season will receive either one dose of the regular flu shot or one patch containing either the flu vaccine or containing placebo.
The vaccine uses is the same as the FDA-approved flu vaccine from last season. Participants will receive follow up, including blood work, during six visits over six months.
"We are excited to conduct this important trial at the Hope Clinic. If the patches containing flu antigens are proven safe and immunogenic, they might be a more convenient alternative to regular flu shots," says Nadine Rouphael, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Emory School of Medicine and principal investigator of the clinical study.
For more information about the study, contact the Hope Clinic by phone at 404-712-1371.
