In the United States, measles has been successfully controlled by the use of the MMR vaccine. However, the vaccine poses many issues in developing countries where measles is still a significant killer of children.
The main problems with the current vaccine, from the point of view of some developing countries, is that it must be injected, which requires certain equipment and a certain level of training. The vaccine is also transported as a powder and must be reconstituted and kept on ice before administration.
In order to help avoid these issues, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the University of Colorado have come up with a vaccine that can be inhaled. The vaccine is always in a powder form and doesn't have temperature qualifications. The elimination of the needle (the new vaccine would use a puff inhaler) eases the need for trained individuals. So far the new vaccine has been tested on rhesus macaques and will most likely be approved for human testing soon. They believe that these changes will be very important in the matter of improving global health.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110201122236.htm
-Katie
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