Global health agencies announced Wednesday that generic versions of a groundbreaking injectable drug to prevent HIV will be made available from 2027 at around $40 a year in more than 100 low and middle-income…
The core principle of vaccination is training the immune system with a substance so that a disease can be defeated later on.
Nothing says that a vaccine needs to be an injection. There are injection vaccines that need multiple doses before the immune system reaches a certain level.
So why would a pill that trains your immune system not be a vaccine?
It’s not a vaccine. It does not trigger an immune response.
Science says vaccines cannot be pills, they either need to be intramuscular or inhaled aerosol. This is because they are proteins, which get digested through the stomach and gut.
Some vaccine are oral based (but as a liquid, not as pill). We don’t use them in the West as we have robust viccine that are injection based. But those vaccine requires a way more robust supply chain than many third world countries has, so oral vaccine, while not as effective as injection based vaccine, are used there.
Problem with oral vaccine is that most pathogens are killed by the digestive system so the only one that could be made as a pill would be those who already are acclimated to such a harsh environment (so gut microbiology).
There are very few digestive disease that would allow for such vaccine vector to be developed, the only one that could these last few decade would be Ebola. But for such a deadly disease (90% mortality if I remember well), the medical community would prioritize the most effective way, which would be injection.
There are No vaccines for HIV. This is a drug that if taken continually will prevent the virus from taking hold.
It is an interesting what makes the distinction.
The core principle of vaccination is training the immune system with a substance so that a disease can be defeated later on.
Nothing says that a vaccine needs to be an injection. There are injection vaccines that need multiple doses before the immune system reaches a certain level.
So why would a pill that trains your immune system not be a vaccine?
It’s not a vaccine. It does not trigger an immune response. Science says vaccines cannot be pills, they either need to be intramuscular or inhaled aerosol. This is because they are proteins, which get digested through the stomach and gut.
Some vaccine are oral based (but as a liquid, not as pill). We don’t use them in the West as we have robust viccine that are injection based. But those vaccine requires a way more robust supply chain than many third world countries has, so oral vaccine, while not as effective as injection based vaccine, are used there.
Problem with oral vaccine is that most pathogens are killed by the digestive system so the only one that could be made as a pill would be those who already are acclimated to such a harsh environment (so gut microbiology).
There are very few digestive disease that would allow for such vaccine vector to be developed, the only one that could these last few decade would be Ebola. But for such a deadly disease (90% mortality if I remember well), the medical community would prioritize the most effective way, which would be injection.
I guess a pill could be a vaccine, but this drug is neither a vaccine nor a pill, so I have no clue why youre bringing this up.