Team says it may also protect people against flu strains that World Health Organisation fails to predict
ELIZABETH CHEUNGelizabeth.cheung@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 12 November, 2015, 10:42pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 12 November, 2015, 10:42pm
Researchers say new vaccination method is more effective in combating influenza
A more effective flu vaccination technique has been jointly developed by the University of Hong Kong and Polytechnic University.
Research team leader Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, a renowned infectious disease expert from the University of Hong Kong, said that by applying imiquimod, a cream for treating genital warts and skin cancer, together with an injection that reaches the dermis - the tissue that supports the skin - instead of a muscle, antibodies could be activated much faster.
The conventional method takes 21 days to produce up to 55 per cent of antibodies, whereas the new one takes around seven days to produce 75 to 98 per cent.
The combination of cream and a shallower injection also enables protection against virus strains that are not intentionally targeted by the specific type of vaccine.
"[The new method] is likely to confer protection even when the World Health Organisation wrongly predicts the epidemic strains," said Yuen.
READ MORE: Flu vaccine will be more effective this winter, says Hong Kong's health chief
He noted that the patch they were developing with the cream would be easier to apply on patients and that the cream, which has been on the market for more than 10 years, would stimulate the body's immune response.
Another researcher, Professor Terence Lau Lok-ting from Polytechnic University, expected the product to be available in one to two years at the earliest.
Yuen also alluded to political conflict, calling on people to unite for the betterment of the city, regardless of their political stance.
"Hong Kong needs to come together. Hong Kong should not be divided. Everybody should come together and get something done," he said.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1878268/hong-kong-researchers-develop-new-flu-vaccine
