Injections are the most common route for vaccines, but they are uncomfortable and can raise the risk of infection. For local infections, vaginal and rectal vaccine delivery work, but they're hardly anyone's first choice. Oral delivery would be ideal, but protein and peptide vaccines would just get chewed up in the stomach. So, what's the option? Researchers in the U.S. and China have been collaborating to create microparticles that carry vaccine nanoparticles through the stomach and release them in the large intestine when the pH is right. In animal studies, the vaccine protected mice against rectal and vaginal infections. While it's still in its early days, this could be used to deliver effective vaccines against infections such as chlamydia. Abstract
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