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Vaccinations have revolutionized public health in the developed world, slashing the numbers of infectious disease–related deaths dramatically. But vaccine availability is often limited in low-income countries with poor healthcare infrastructures, leading to avoidable deaths. Two issues influencing the accessibility of many vaccines are their needs for constant refrigeration from production until use and for trained personnel to administer injections.
To overcome the issue of temperature sensitivity, some vaccines are freeze-dried, a process known as lyophilization, and transported as powders. But, says Maria Croyle, a pharmacologist at the University of Texas at Austin, in some instances the stability of lyophilized vaccines is less than ideal. For instance, some can be damaged if they freeze during transport or storage. Moreover, lyophilized vaccines still need to be reconstituted and injected by professionals.
To avoid these barriers, Croyle and her team have developed a vaccine preparation technique that both imparts ...
