A Flu Shot for the Squeamish
Sep-10-2011

Squeamish about getting a flu shot? You may be in luck.
This fall, people seeking flu shots may be able to skip the big, scary needle and choose a new short-needle flu shot, called Fluzone intradermal.
Fluzone intradermal uses a shorter, thinner needle called a microneedle to give flu shots just under the skin, rather than deeper in the muscle like standard flu shots.
The shots' manufacturer, Sanofi Pasteur, said the microneedles are less than one-10th of an inch long and are about the width of a human hair. Standard flu shots are given with needles up to one and a half inches long.
Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt School of Medicine, said that when he tried a short-needle shot earlier this year, he barely felt it.
"It is truly ouchless," he said. "The immediate inoculation is virtually imperceptible."
He added that delivering the shot to the skin instead of the muscle can help patients avoid the deep muscle ache associated with a standard flu shot.
The shot delivers the vaccine to a layer of cells just underneath the surface of the skin, called dendritic cells. Dr. Ralph Tripp, professor of infectious diseases at the University of Georgia, said this is an ideal spot for a vaccine, since these cells deal directly with the body's immune system.
"These cells can substantially enhance vaccine presentation to the immune system," he said.

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