Laser-light therapy ‘can enhance efficacy of flu vaccines’

A new US study has suggested that laser treatment could help to enhance the effectiveness of current influenza immunisation techniques.

Investigators from the vaccine and immunotherapy centre of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have discovered a particular wavelength of laser light can be used to pretreat the site of intradermal vaccination, which may substantially improve vaccine effectiveness.

A one-minute dose of near-infrared laser light significantly improved the effectiveness of intradermal influenza vaccination in a mouse model, increasing both immune system activity and survival rates, without the adverse effects of chemical additives currently used for this purpose.

The effects of the laser adjuvant may last up to six hours, meaning pretreatment could be done right before the vaccine is administered.

Dr Satoshi Kashiwagi of the MGH Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center, said: "We believe the same approach could be used with other vaccines – such as tuberculosis, polio and malaria – for which intradermal administration is either approved or being evaluated."

Many at-risk patients are currently being vaccinated against influenza in the UK as the winter sets in, due to the danger this common condition can pose to the health of elderly and infirm people.