Syringe boosts vaccine supply
programmes could be increased - without making any additional
vaccine - by simply using a syringe developed by Becton Dickinson.
Using BD's Integra Syringe, a 10-dose vial of flu vaccine can provide 11 vaccinations, according to the company. The syringe has been specifically designed with a reduced waste-space volume, which can increase the number of flu doses obtained from a multi-dose vial by as much as 10 per cent.
Residual medication left inside a syringe after an injection is typically found in the syringe tip, needle hub and cannula - the area commonly referred to as waste space. The Integra syringe exploits the standard overfill that drug manufacturers put into vials to account for syringes with larger waste space volumes.
It is also possible that widespread adoption of syringes with improved waste space volumes could allow companies to reduce the amount of overfill they need to put into vials. This could be of particular value in reducing the cost of producing expensive treatments such as biologicals.
