A new study suggests that booster doses delivered to the lungs can prevent infection. The study offers hope in stopping the spread of COVID-19 among humans in the future.
Protecting the Mucosal Immune System
Current COVID-19 vaccines provide significant protection against severe illness, but they do not prevent virus infection in the first place. As a result, researchers have been looking for ways to enhance mucosal immunity – the immune response at mucosal surfaces – where the virus is first encountered. Now, a team has shown that mucosal immunity can be improved enough to prevent COVID-19 infection in rhesus monkeys by administering booster doses directly into their lungs via inhalation. They hope this may provide a means to prevent humans from contracting COVID-19 in the future.
Research Article: McMahon et al.
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