A study published by researchers at Children's Hospital Medical Center in the Journal of Virology finds that using nanoparticles as carriers could lead to an effective vaccine for norovirus. In the United States, the stomach disease is most often carried carried by tainted food. It causes several days of vomiting and diarrhea in adults and kills hundreds of thousands of children each year.
The researchers say that a nanocarrier called the P particle could act as a scaffold for vaccines. By inserting the rotavirus antigen into the scaffold, they were able to elicit an immune response in mice. The technique could also be effective for the norovirus. "The dual vaccine holds promise for controlling gastroenteritis in children," noted head researcher Xi Jason Jiang. The investigators add that they've inserted a number of antigens into the P particle scaffold.
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