India's 1st Nasal Covid-19 Vaccine Gets DCGI nod for Emergency Use

Today’s edition of our Current Affairs will comprise a discussion on India's 1st Nasal Covid-19 Vaccine Gets DCGI nod for Emergency Use. Read further to upgrade your UPSC CSE knowledge and also understand the topic’s relevance to the UPSC syllabus.

For Prelims: Vaccine Technology, Nasal vaccine, Mechanism of vaccine, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, Basics of B and T cells.

For Mains: Evolution and mechanism of Vaccine Technology, Health Care policy, Covid Pandemic management, Evolution of Vaccine Technology (Biotechnology),

Probable Question

 Explain recent development in the Vaccine Technology (Biotechnology), and its utility in the management of covid pandemic. 

Context

Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 recombinant nasal vaccine has been approved by the Ministry of Health’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation for primary immunisation of those aged 18 years and above in emergency situations.

Additional Information  Under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, CDSCO is responsible for approval of Drugs, Conduct of Clinical Trials, laying down the standards for Drugs, control over the quality of imported Drugs in the country. Coordination of the activities of State Drug Control Organizations by providing expert advice with a view of bringing about uniformity in the enforcement of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. Further CDSCO along with state regulators, is jointly responsible for grant of licenses of certain specialized categories of critical Drugs such as blood and blood products, I. V. Fluids, Vaccine and Sera.

What is a Nasal Vaccine?

• Vaccines are usually given through different routes, with the most common being injectable shots delivered into the muscles (intramuscular) or the tissue just between the skin and the muscles (subcutaneous). 
• In the intranasal route, the vaccine is sprayed into the nostrils and inhaled.
• Many viruses, including the coronavirus, enter the body through mucosa — wet, squishy tissues that line the nose, mouth, lungs and digestive tract — triggering a unique immune response from cells and molecules there.
• An intranasal vaccine can act against the virus from the time it tries to break the body’s barrier. 

Read yesterday’s edition of Current Affairs on F-INSAS, Nipun Mines, LCA — India's New Defence Systems, in case you missed reading it.

How will a Nasal Vaccine Work?

• In the case of both delivery routes, vaccines trigger a response in the blood.
  • B cells, for example, would churn out antibodies – including a particularly potent disease-fighter called IgG – to roam the body in search of the virus. 
  • Other cells, called T cells, would either help B cells produce antibodies or seek out and destroy the infected cells.

Additional Information  The primary and secondary immune responses are carried out with the help of two special types of lymphocytes present in our blood, i.e., B-lymphocytes and Tlymphocytes.  Lymphocyte is a type of immune cell that is made in the bone marrow and is found in the blood and in lymph tissue. A lymphocyte is a type of white blood cell. The primary lymphoid organs are bone marrow and thymus. The B-lymphocytes produce an army of proteins in response to pathogens into our blood to fight with them. These proteins are called antibodies. The T-cells themselves do not secrete antibodies but help B cells produce them.

• But intranasal vaccines can also tap into another set of immune cells that hang around mucosal tissues.
  • The B cells that reside there can make another type of antibody, called IgA, that plays a key role in destroying the airway pathogens.

Importance of Vaccines Delivered Through Nasal, Oral Route

• Reduce the cost by doing away with the need for needles and syringes.
• Reduce the dependence on various trained personnel to administer the vaccine.

News source

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-sci-tech/explained-nasal-vaccine-emergency-nod-combat-covid-19-8134479/

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