Vaccines can be delivered through the skin using ultrasound. This method doesn’t damage the skin and eliminates the need for painful needles. To create a needle-free vaccine, Darcy Dunn-Lawless at the University of Oxford and his colleagues mixed vaccine molecules with tiny, cup-shaped proteins. They then applied liquid mixture to the skin of mice and exposed it to ultrasound – like that used for sonograms – for about a minute and a half.

  • Starkstruck@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    While this is awesome, I can already imagine anti-vaxxers are now deathly afraid of ultrasounds lol

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      Brace yourselves! Vaccination with sound conspiracies coming in!

      “The IRS called, they vaccinated me trough my phone in my ear!!?”

      “Mass vaccinations trough radio!!?”

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          Ya see that one where someone’s landlord went loopy and cut power to their building because he’d consumed a bunch of conspiracy nut stuff?

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            I didn’t but I’m not surprised. I feel like this mystical thinking is rooted in our acceptance of religion to some extent.

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          I know you are joking, but I suspect that many people would swallow this idea while without any thought whatsoever.

          Yes, we live in an age of uncritical thought.

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      They were already terrified of phone signals.

      Only fast ones though. Slower ones can’t penetrate the skin.

      • PsychedSy@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        Hilariously enough, it’s closer to the other way 'round. Higher frequencies means more bandwidth but they can be blocked easier. Lower frequencies can go farther before being attenuated too much.

        • pete_the_cat@lemmy.world
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          One of my friend’s friends has a PhD in psychology, but she thinks that nuclear radiation has healing properties and told me to move out of NYC because there was too much 5G everywhere. She still uses a smartphone though, just on a selfie stick on speakerphone 🤣 She also told me that she was afraid of the radio in her car because of the radio waves.

          • 0000011110110111i@lemm.ee
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            7 months ago

            She thinks that nuclear radiation has healing properties

            In a way she’s actually not wrong. That’s what radiotherapy is. Focused nuclear radiation to heal cancer.

            • pete_the_cat@lemmy.world
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              She doesn’t have cancer though, she’s perfectly healthy and is an “alternative medicine practitioner”. She said she sleeps with a piece of thorium under her pillow.

              Regardless of it being used for cancer treatment, nuclear radiation isn’t good for the body in any way. Various forms of radiation (not just nuclear) are harmful, like getting too much sun.

                • pete_the_cat@lemmy.world
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                  I’m convinced that she’s just nuts. My friend, who is her friend (how I met this woman), told me that the woman has started “Urine Therapy” and I just said “Jesus fucking Christ… I… I just have nothing to say” because I didn’t wanna get into a debate with him about it.

    • Syndic@feddit.de
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      Wanna bet that they will somehow combine this with 5G conspiracies?

      “It’s all just a wave after all!!!” /s

    • silly goose meekah@lemmy.world
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      Idk, anti vaxxers aren’t afraid of needles/syringes as far as I understand. They don’t want that kind of substance to be put inside their body, regardless of the method of administration

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        It’s too bad we can’t put vaccines in cum. We’d either have nearly 100% vaccine rates or the antivaxxers would quickly die out.

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        I mean, yes, but a lot of them also think it’s a conspiracy where world leaders are trying to vaccinate everyone because ??? Those types will start avoiding ultrasound to not get tricked into getting vaccinated.

        • pete_the_cat@lemmy.world
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          The best part is “depopulation by helping people stay healthy” e.g. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

  • 摆 烂@lemm.eeOP
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    Antivaxxers now pro-abortion to avoid forced ultrasound vaccinations.

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      As interesting as that would be to happen, in reality, there’s just going to be a bunch more people going without pre natal care.

      • 摆 烂@lemm.eeOP
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        7 months ago

        Which is going to be most red states in the next decade. Great time to be in the little coffin business though.

        • M500@lemmy.ml
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          7 months ago

          Why are democrats winning? The republican voter base makes decisions that directly affects their health in a negative way.

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          Until they run out of land that’s not private property. I think they’ll use mass graves first, then just to bury the bones and teeth that don’t burn.

          I fervently wish I’d skipped this thread.

    • Dkarma@lemmy.world
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      I was gonna say oh now they are gonna say that’s what the 5g towers are REALLY for 🙄🙄🙄

      • Ultraviolet@lemmy.world
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        At this point if it was possible to orchestrate some massive conspiracy to vaccinate people en masse, we should just do that. They’ll shout about it either way, but this way they’ll at least be vaccinated

        • turmacar@lemmy.world
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          This is basically the fluoride ‘debate’.

          (Yes, fluoridating the water supply is good.)

          • RickyRigatoni@lemmy.ml
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            Also, if you are injesting enough flouride to cause health issues when you brush your teeth, you are brushing horrifically wrong.

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            I specifically remember my bio mom ranting about how we all would have telekinetic powers if not for the fluoride in the water. She believed that was the ‘real’ reason the government did it.

    • mechoman444@lemmy.world
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      That was my first thought the flat earthers and mud flood people are going to have a field day with this!

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    I should patent a long range dart gun for vaccinating morons.

    • AlternateMrPapaya@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Finally? They were used back in the 1970s. There were issues with them getting contaminated during use, so disposable needles became the norm.

  • Joshua Hershey@lemm.ee
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    7 months ago

    We are one step closer to hypo sprays from Star Trek. I don’t like needles so this will be really neat to see in mass adoption.

    • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world
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      Hyposprays already were invented, mass produced, used as standard in the military for several years, and abandoned because they weren’t as hygienic as needles.

      Anything that pushes through the skin into the blood pushes pathogens in too. Statically, needles were safer so hyposprays were abandoned.

      • lolcatnip@reddthat.com
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        Presumably the version they use in Star Trek avoids that problem somehow, so it’s still a thing that would need to be invented.

        • FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          The doctors are constantly jabbing people one right after another and often through the uniform…I’d love to see the explanation in universe for that

          • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world
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            Medicine is improved so everyone has super immunity in the future. So it’s not that the hypo isn’t pushing dirt into their veins, it’s that they don’t care.

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    Sitting for a minute and a half, not including prep and cleanup, or just getting stabbed a little. shrug

    Edit: To save the next half dozen people exclaiming “needles!” the trouble. I would refine my point to, “great to have the option but I imagine it as being more of a fallback than the beginning of a new era”.

    • Ultraviolet@lemmy.world
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      Needle phobias are extremely common, and the thing about phobias is that you’re fully aware that the fear isn’t coming from a rational place, which is part of what makes them so frustrating to deal with.

      • Emerald@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        the thing about phobias is that you’re fully aware that the fear isn’t coming from a rational place

        Lol yeah when I get vaccinated the anxiety fully fades the moment the needle enters my arm.

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      For people like me who go down for a half hour and feel like a train wreck for 8 hours when they get stabbed a little, I’ll take a 1.5min one.

      If you told me I needed to run on a treadmill for an hour while the ultrasound worked, I’d STILL take it over getting stabbed a little.

      • Chaotic Entropy@feddit.uk
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        If humans weren’t meant to stabbed then we wouldn’t be so soft and penetrable.

        I do take your point though.

        • abraxas@sh.itjust.works
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          Lol, it’s true. But if we were meant to be stabbed we wouldn’t have a completely unique dangerous (occasionally it kills people) reaction to it that doesn’t resemble most phobias.

        • abraxas@sh.itjust.works
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          Happens for blood draws as well, even small quantities. Happens if someone pokes me with a lidocaine. It’s a vasovagal reaction where my body “overreacts to certain triggers”. My blood pressure and heartrate plummet (to scary low levels. I’ve freaked out nurses on a couple of occasions). It causes me to feint in a comically dramatic way because the bloodflow to my brain gets too low. To be even more fun, I sometimes exhibit false “seizure” symptoms when I’m down, tightening up all my muscles at once and stopping breathing. During my first COVID vaccine, my breathing stopped for almost a minute, which is why 2 doctors were overseeing me when I came to. My wife explaining the situation is the only reason I didn’t end up in an ambulance. You shoulda seen the nurse, she looked as pale as I did!

          In theory, this could kill me, and there are confirmed ultra-rare cases of people dying from vasovagal syncope. In practice, I’m far more likely to die of a car accident on the way home (with my wife driving me because I’m in no state to drive after that). So long as a competent medical professional is watching me, I’m basically completely safe. But absolutely miserable.

          Honestly, it makes me feel like I’m some kind of drama queen. But it’s entirely made up of unconscious responses in my body.

          And the weird thing is that it’s not thinking about needles. It’s my body’s reaction to the feeling of a needle entering it. That sad little “prick” feeling that is maybe a 1 out of 10 on the pain scale? I have no idea if it’s “trickable” because I have absolutely no problem digging out a splinter with a knife. I keep wanting to find out if getting a tattoo would trigger that reaction or not. I just want to get a tattoo anyway lol.

            • abraxas@sh.itjust.works
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              … genuinely I’ve never been offered (even had to google EMLA)

              But now that you mention it, I’ve never had this particular issue from novicaine at the dentist. And they always use a topical.

              Next time I need a shot/blood, I’ll see if they’re willing to try that! Since it really does seem to be about the poke itself, something that changes the feeling might be exactly what works.

              • ABCDE@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                Just source it yourself, it’s over the counter in the UK and unlikely to be difficult elsewhere. Apply thirty mins beforehand with the patch over, make sure you put it where the injection will go of course… remove when ready, wipe the cream away and voila, no feeling. The dentist uses a spray anaesthetic before needles; despite my phobia, I don’t really mind gum injections, very weird.

            • abraxas@sh.itjust.works
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              Honestly, I wouldn’t trade it for the medical conditions of some of my family and friends. It sucks, and makes me hate doctors, but it won’t kill me.

              I mean, I’d take this over diabetes and/or asthma shrug

          • Zink@programming.dev
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            7 months ago

            That sure sounds annoying. I hope being able to plan ahead for the occasional jab makes it not much of a real issue in your life.

            Does it happen for accidental/“natural” pokes? You mentioned the splinter thing, but if you had a thorn, cactus needle, or even a piece of glass stuck in your skin and pulled it out, would you do alright?

            • abraxas@sh.itjust.works
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              I hope being able to plan ahead for the occasional jab makes it not much of a real issue in your life.

              Basically that. I schedule a day off if I need a jab for any reason, and work from home anyway when I’m miserable the next several days.

              Does it happen for accidental/“natural” pokes? You mentioned the splinter thing, but if you had a thorn, cactus needle, or even a piece of glass stuck in your skin and pulled it out, would you do alright?

              All of those are fine. And unlike a lot of people with my issue, blood doesn’t bother me in the least. Once in a great while I’ve gotten a mild version of that from an insect bite, but the feeling is just completely different.

              Oddly, I think if a needle hurt more and did some tearing, it wouldn’t bother me so much.

              But you’re asking some really thought-provoking questions. I have a lot of food-related texture issues and while this is COMPLETELY different, I’m suddenly wondering if it’s a little more similar than I thought. I do believe there’s a psychological component to it; I haven’t been able to test, but if I were surprised with a needle jab outside of a medical setting, I have no idea if it would happen to me or not.

              What I did discover is that my blood pressure doesn’t rise and my heartbeat doesn’t go up in “prep”. I don’t seem to have a stress-rise effect for it to be stress-plummet related. I’m not asking anyone to surprise me with a shot, but I really do wonder what would happen.

          • BluesF@feddit.uk
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            7 months ago

            Huh, I have never heard of such a thing! Sounds very annoying to say the least

            • abraxas@sh.itjust.works
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              It fucking sucks, more because a lot of providers don’t (or didn’t. They’ve been getting better) take seriously. They’d treat you like a baby or a hypochondriac, right up until you scare them half to death by WHAT YOU SAID WOULD HAPPEN happening.

              The stopping-breathing thing is super-rare, so even people expecting that “complely calm-seeming patient” pass-out are shocked when that same unconscious patient starts holding their breath and shaking.

    • mechoman444@lemmy.world
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      It’s not just the time we’ve saved here. Think of people on insulin that have to take shots multiple times a day.

      The medical implications of this are massive it is absolutely a game changer.

      If it ever comes into fruition.

      • Chaotic Entropy@feddit.uk
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        We’ll have to wait and see how this impacts anything that needs to be injected deeper than skin level, which is why the focus is on vaccines.

    • Nathanator@lemmy.world
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      Maybe one way of looking at it might be : this would be safe enough you could trust people to self-administer, and you could therefore take the professional with the needle out of the equation.

      90 seconds of one person’s time has got to be better than the quick jab by two people, no?

      • Ech@lemm.ee
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        I don’t think any amount of de-specializing would be enough to trust the ignorant and/or malicious masses could or would self-administer adequately.

        • Nathanator@lemmy.world
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          You’re right. Can’t just post them to folks and expect 100% uptake. It might widen the possibilities of more people getting more vaccines, though. In my books, this can only be a good thing.

      • Chaotic Entropy@feddit.uk
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        Depending on how specific the injection needs to be, there are a number of scenarios in which people can self-administer injections. So, ignoring people who physically can’t self-administer, it isn’t that dramatic a change.

        I can’t help but feel that the professional would be even more necessary to administer this correctly and not just waste a treatment/dose doing it wrong, whilst under the illusion that you did it right. Along with the specialised equipment needed for it in the first place. Needles and doses at least are pretty easily self-contained and if it is suitable for self application just “pointy end goes in fat bit of you”.

        Naturally it’s early days, so it’ll be fascinating to see how this develops.

        • Nathanator@lemmy.world
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          I agree! Auto injectors aren’t cheap compared to ye olde trusty ampule and syringe, and this might push the costs towards the higher end again. I can see a kids-and-the-latex-allergic edge case scenario.

          Can’t wait to see what develops 😄

  • whoisearth@lemmy.ca
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    If they can do this for insulin which sounds like it’s the same this is a game changer

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    I guess it’s interesting but this seems to have minimal use case. For those with reactions to injections and such it’s useful, but it seems much easier to use a needle in most cases. Also that article claims that it “doesn’t damage the skin”, but I don’t see why a vaccine would cause any meaningful damage to the skin in the first place.

    Edit: Okay I’m seeing now how this would be useful for more frequent injections like insulin and such if it can be used like that.

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      It literally tears a hole in the flesh with a puncture wound. It’s the definition of damaging.

      Minor damage, but damage none the less.

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      I have a phobia of needles so this comes in very very handy. I just wish there was one for taking blood out.

    • Halcyon@discuss.tchncs.de
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      I guess the fear of needles is a constant problem when children are vaccinated. Having an alternative method ready could make it easier for children, parents and doctors.

      • weker01@feddit.de
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        7 months ago

        Not only children. I know a guy that passes out (or almost does) when they try to inject him with needles.

        • Octavio@lemmy.world
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          I know a guy like that too. Okay, it’s me. I have to ask the doctor to let me be lying down when I get a shot. But at least it’s not as embarrassing as passing out in the little chair and have a 115 lb. nurse trying to hold me up before I hit the floor. That has happened more than once.

    • 摆 烂@lemm.eeOP
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      It’s a bit more like really high pitch screaming as it enters you, but the way you say it makes me want it even more.