Scientists may have finally found a way to deal with one of developing world’s worst problems in healthcare— faulty and inadequate cold chain for vaccine storage. British scientists from Oxford University have found a way to keep vaccines stable even at room temperature.

This could come as a boon for India where reports of vaccines spoiling due to bad cold storage facilities are common. The new technology could mean no fridges, freezers and associated health infrastructure—significantly bringing down the costs of vaccination.

The OU study showed that vaccines could be stabilized for months using Nova Bio-Pharma’s patented technology called the hypodermic rehydration injection system (HydRIS). SUGAR-COATED Vaccines can be stored for a year Scientists from Oxford University have demonstrated that it is possible to store two different virus-based vaccines on sugar-stabilized membranes for 46 months at 45 degrees Celsius without any degradation.

The vaccines could be kept for a year and more at 37 degrees C with only tiny losses in the amount of viral vaccine reobtained from the membrane. “Cur rently, vaccines need to be stored in a fridge or freezer. That means you need a clinic with a nurse, a fridge and electricity supply, and refrigerated lorries for distribution. If you could ship vaccines at normal temperatures, you would greatly reduce cost and hugely improve access to vaccines. You could even picture someone with a backpack taking vaccine doses on a bike into remote villages,’’ said lead author Dr Matt Cottingham of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford.

The method involves mixing the vaccine with the sugars trehalose and sucrose. The mixture is then left to slowly dry out on a simple filter or membrane. As it dries and the water evaporates, the vaccine mixture turns into a syrup and then fully solidifies on the membrane.
The thin sugary film that forms on the membrane preserves the active part of the vaccine in a kind of suspended animation, protected from degradation even at high temperature. Flushing the membrane with water rehydrates the vaccine from the membrane in an instant.  “The beauty of this approach is that a simple plastic cartridge, containing the membrane with vaccine dried on, can be placed on the end of a syringe,’’ Dr Cottingham said. Pushing a liquid solution from the syringe over the membrane would then release the vaccine, which can then be injected into the patient, he added.