But now there might be an easier alternative in the form of patches that can simply be applied to the skin, much like a Band-Aid.
Early data from a vaccine patch trial in The Gambia has shown promising signs that it could be effective in protecting children from measles.
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has been helping develop these vaccine microarray patches (or MAPS), as they are known, for several years.
Birgitte Giersing, team leader at WHO's Vaccine Products and Administration Research Unit, said the patches could represent an important advance in protecting vulnerable populations against preventable diseases.
Innovative potential
“These are potentially innovative vaccine delivery technologies that could really contribute to increasing coverage of life-saving vaccines like measles and rubella… especially in low-resource settings,” he told reporters in Geneva.
“And this is because they can be administered more easily than vaccines that must be injected, especially in outbreaks or humanitarian emergency situations.”
Dr. Giersing explained that the patches could be especially useful in combating measles and rubella. Vaccines for both diseases have been available for decades, but coverage levels fell during the COVID-19 pandemic and there are now many millions of susceptible children in many countries.
“People may be more willing to get vaccinated with a patch than with a needle, so patches really have an acceptability advantage,” Dr. Giersing said.
First guidelines published to reduce catheter infection rates
In other health news, the WHO on Thursday released the first global guidelines to prevent bloodstream infections and other infections caused by the use of catheters placed in minor blood vessels while patients undergo minor procedures.
Poor practices in the routine use of catheters (how they are inserted and removed in the arm, for example) can create a high risk of infections entering the system through the blood.
Serious consequences
This can lead to serious diseases such as sepsis and difficult-to-treat complications in important organs such as the brain and kidneys, the WHO said.
Soft tissue infections may also occur at the catheter insertion site.
People who receive treatments through catheters are often especially vulnerable to infections, as they may be seriously ill or have low immunity.
The WHO estimates that between 2000 and 2018, the average mortality among patients affected by healthcare-associated sepsis was 24.4 percent, increasing to 52.3 percent among patients treated in intensive care units.
“Infections associated with healthcare delivery represent a preventable tragedy and a serious threat to the quality and safety of healthcare,” said Dr Bruce Aylward, WHO Assistant Director-General.
“Implementing clean care and infection prevention and control recommendations is critical to saving lives and alleviating the vast amount of avoidable suffering experienced by people around the world.”
The new guidelines include 14 good practice statements and 23 recommendations on key areas for healthcare workers, including improved education and training for healthcare workers.
Former Guantanamo detainee faces new victimization in Algeria: human rights experts
A former Guantanamo prisoner now facing terrorism charges in Algeria should be dismissed because he has no chance of a fair trial, independent human rights experts said Thursday.
Saeed Bakhouche was transferred from the US detention center to Algeria in April 2023, with assurances that he would receive humane treatment.
But he was immediately arrested in Algeria, “detained incommunicado…threatened during interrogation and without legal representation.”
in the spring
He is due to stand trial later this month, said the rights experts, who report to the Human Rights Council, receive no salary and are completely independent of any government or organisation.
In a statement, human rights experts, including Ben Saul, the Special Rapporteur on combating terrorism, said Bakhouche spent more than 20 years in the notorious US military prison in Cuba that was opened to hold suspected terrorists after the 9/11 attacks. .
Bakhouche was tortured at Guantánamo and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, the experts said, warning that he “could not receive a fair and public trial in a national security case” in Algeria.
Among other concerns, rights experts highlighted Algeria's “overly broad definition of terrorism crimes” and the threat that Bakhouche would be detained in prisons “with documented risks of torture.”
