Hong Kong scientists make breakthrough on needle-free flu vaccine with more protection

Hong Kong scientists have made a breakthrough in developing a new flu vaccine that is needle-free and has the potential to induce a more robust immune response against various virus strains.

The University of Hong Kong’s Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine said on Thursday it had developed two novel vaccine approaches, each with its own characteristics and advantages that were expected to be used to create a new flu jab in the future.

Professor Leo Poon Lit-man, chair of public health virology, said the long-lasting protective effects of new vaccines may reduce the need to receive yearly jabs, with more research to be done to determine the exact frequency.

“On mice, the protection given by the vaccine was very satisfactory compared with other live-attenuated influenza vaccines and inactivated vaccines,” he said.

“We can also see that the mice had a great immune response against different types of influenza, including human and avian ones. We believe our vaccines are not required to be received every year.”

Live-attenuated vaccines use a weakened form of the virus that causes a disease. Because these vaccines are so similar to the natural infection that they help prevent, they create a strong and long-lasting immune response, according to health authorities.