Current methods of electroporation for efficient vaccination uptake

Abstract

With the resurgence of illnesses, such as measles, it is of utmost importance that a high percentage of the local and global population be vaccinated. Diseases, such as measles, HepB, Hib, and others, are suppressed when 93%–95% of a population has been vaccinated against them, generating herd immunity. Lack of vaccination can lead to lifelong consequences. Barriers to vaccination include costs, lack of healthcare worker knowledge, reliance on cold chain storage, age, and personal beliefs. Vaccinations are usually administered as subcutaneous or intramuscular injections, though some oral vaccines exist. The use of intradermal or intramuscular electroporation (ID-EP and IM-EP) as an adjuvant has demonstrated benefits over traditional vaccination methods, while also having some issues, which require careful consideration. Issues for consideration include a lack of standardized equipment and pulsing protocols while benefits include dose sparing, long-term immunogenicity, and higher titer levels after a single dose compared to the gold standard. ID-EP has been shown to have better transfection rates over IM-EP, while IM-EP has demonstrated faster seroconversion rates (SRs) over IM injection alone. Improvements such as standardizing equipment with larger injection volumes, multiple EP site locations and/or disposable, predosed, lyophilized vaccine cartridges could contribute to more rapid deployment of vaccines without relying on cold chain storage and trained healthcare workers, at a reduced cost while still providing adequate levels of immunity against disease.