By Ann Hohenhaus, DVM, DACVIM
Vaccinations have been long associated with needles, but needleless vaccinations are gaining in popularity since they may be less painful and cannot spread disease if an unscrupulous medical professional reuses needles and syringes. Needleless vaccination increases safety for the medical professional administering a vaccine since there is no risk of a needlestick injury.
Intranasal Vaccines
Many parents are familiar with intransal vaccines through the pediatrician’s office. Pet owners may have also experienced intranasal vaccination for their dog against kennel cough (boradetella) or the intranasal vaccine against feline rhinothracheitis, calicivirus and panleukopenia. Now there is a second type of needleless vaccination, a vaccine injected into or under the skin without a needle. Merial produces a feline leukemia vaccine administered using a needleless syringe. The system consists of an injector, which uses a spring system or compressed carbon dioxide to “blast” the vaccine through the skin.
A needleless delivery system is also used for the canine melanoma vaccine. A video of one of my dog patients receiving a melanoma vaccine can be found here.
You might be getting a needleless flu vaccine this year using the same technology we use for needleless feline leukemia and canine melanoma vaccines. The manufacturer of our devices announced needleless flu vaccines will be given in the 2011 flu season at Publix Markets and Fred Meyer stores.
How about that? Human medicine seems to be catching
