by Jade Boyd, Rice University Sealed microparticles containing colored dye are shown inside the narrow opening of a standard-sized hypodermic needle. Credit: Brandon Martin/Rice University Missing crucial doses of medicines and vaccines could become a thing of the past thanks to Rice University bioengineers’ next-level technology for making time-released drugs. “This is a huge problem...
Tag: <span>Vaccines</span>
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Vaccines dramatically reduce the risk of long-term effects of COVID-19
by Bar-Ilan University Frequency of most reported symptoms among the uninfected, the infected and unvaccinated, and the infected and vaccinated with 1 or 2 vaccine doses. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals. Credit: npj Vaccines (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41541-022-00526-5 Being vaccinated with at least two doses of Pfizer vaccines dramatically reduces most of the long-term symptoms individuals reported...
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Extending the shelf life of vaccines
by ETH Zurich Artistic rendering of the gels encapsulating a viral vaccine. Credit: ETH Zurich / Jonathan Zawada Nearly half of all vaccines go to waste. This is due to the logistical obstacles involved in transporting them to diverse regions of the world. Most vaccines require strict temperature regulation from the manufacturing line to injection...
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Vaccines protect against infection from Omicron subvariant — but not for long
Saima May Sidik Two doses of an mRNA vaccine such as that made by Pfizer–BioNTech provide similar protection against two subvariants of SARS-CoV-2.Credit: Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty The Omicron subvariant BA.2 is replacing its sister version, BA.1, as the dominant form of SARS-CoV-2 in many countries, which has led scientists to wonder whether...
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Aiming to end the refrigeration of vaccines
by CSIRO Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Researchers at Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, have developed a technique that addresses the challenge of transporting temperature-dependent vaccines, which researchers hope may increase access in rural and remote communities in Australia and developing countries. The World Health Organisation estimates that at least 50 percent of vaccines are wasted...
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Covid-19 vaccines are not associated with developing neurodegenerative diseases
24 JANUARY 2022 WHAT WAS CLAIMED Covid-19 vaccines could cause neurodegenerative diseases in young people. OUR VERDICT The MHRA has told Full Fact there is “no credible evidence” of an association between the Covid-19 vaccines and neurodegenerative diseases. An Instagram post shares the headline of an online article which claims: “COVID [sic] Shots Could Cause ‘Crippling’ Neurodegenerative Disease in...
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BU study: COVID-19 vaccines do not cause infertility
BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE New findings by Boston University School of Public Health investigators indicate that COVID-19 vaccination does not impair fertility—but males who become infected by the coronavirus may experience short-term reduced fertility. COVID-19 vaccination in either partner does not appear to affect fertility, according to new research led by Boston University School...
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Vaccines induce lower levels of neutralising antibodies against omicron, boosters improve levels: study
by University of Oxford Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Researchers from the University of Oxford have analyzed the impact of the omicron COVID-19 variant of concern on one of the immune responses generated by vaccination. Using blood samples from individuals who had previously received two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines as part of the Com-COV study, and...
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Immune system-stimulating nanoparticle could lead to more powerful vaccines
by Massachusetts Institute of Technology Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A common strategy to make vaccines more powerful is to deliver them along with an adjuvant—a compound that stimulates the immune system to produce a stronger response. Researchers from MIT, the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, and other institutions have now designed a new nanoparticle adjuvant that...
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Untangling the immune response to vaccines
by Allessandra Dicorato, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard Credit: Ricardo Job-Reese, Broad Communications The COVID-19 pandemic has turned a spotlight on the importance of vaccines, but also on key gaps in scientific understanding of how the immune system reacts to vaccines in general. Why does the immune response to some vaccines differ from person...