COVID-19 News: A Nasal Spray Nano-Vaccine and New Long-COVID Research

Cases of COVID-19 are expected to increase in the Northern Hemisphere as people move indoors during the winter months with a greater likelihood of contact with those who are infected. Getting the latest booster vaccine and wearing masks in areas where there are lots of people remain your two best deterrents.

The first story in this posting brings encouraging news for treating the virus. A nasal spray nano vaccine that is easily transportable and doesn’t require refrigeration has been developed and has shown to be equal to or better than existing mRNA vaccines.

The second story is about Long COVID. Estimates of Long COVID vary from 1.2% to 13.4% of those infected by COVID-19 depending on the symptoms associated with the condition.

In March 2024, 17 million Americans had Long COVID symptoms. Women were three times more likely to report symptoms than men. Research is identifying specific proteins that appear to cause the condition which may soon lead to effective treatments.

More on both these COVID stories follow.

A Nasal Spray Nano-Vaccine Breakthrough

Tel Aviv University and the University of Lisbon have cooperatively developed a nano-vaccine for COVID-19 that is administered through a nasal spray and targets all key variants of the virus. The vaccine can be stored in ambient temperatures rather than requiring refrigeration making it eminently portable. The nanoparticle is a mere 200 nanometers in size.

States Professor Satchi-Fainaro, “The new nano-vaccine’s development was inspired by a decade of research on cancer vaccines. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, we set a new goal: training our cancer platform to identify and target the coronavirus. Unlike Moderna and Pfizer, we did not rely on full protein expression via mRNA. Instead, using our computational bioinformatics tools, we identified two short and simple amino acid sequences in the virus’ protein, then synthesized them, and encapsulated them in nanoparticles.” The vaccine is effective against the Beta, Delta, Omicron and other variants.

Being needle-free is a distinct advantage. No medically trained staff are needed to administer it. There is no contamination risk from using needles. Unlike the mRNA-based Moderna and Pfizer vaccines which need to be stored respectively at -20 and -70 Celsius (-4 to -94 Fahrenheit), the vaccine is stored as a powder that is then mixed with saline to create the liquid spray.

Current vaccines provide protection that decreases approximately 4 months after being given. The nano vaccine appears to provide longer-lasting protective immunity of up to 10 months.

The vaccine targets peptides in the virus with low mutation frequency. The nanoparticle’s physicochemical properties provide high peptide entrapment. In animal studies using mice, the results have proven promising compared to Pfizer and Moderna mRNA alternatives.

You can read the research article that describes how this next-generation COVID-19 treatment was developed in the journal Advanced Science published in August of this year.

The Latest Long COVID-19 Findings Hold Promise for Sufferers

After my first bout of COVID-19, it took me a long time to recover. I suffered from prolonged fatigue and couldn’t concentrate. For several months I stopped writing this blog. No one could tell me why this was happening. No one had yet coined the term “Long COVID” to describe the post-infection malaise that caused my fatigue, cognitive impairment and other symptoms. I couldn’t read. I couldn’t concentrate. I watched television. There were no vaccines.

According to the Schmidt Initiative for Long COVID, today more than 65 million have Long COVID. Research is ongoing to identify the biological mechanisms underlying Long COVID points to a series of chemical reactions that control cell function. Inflammatory proteins have been identified such as Galectin-9 associated with inflammation and brain fog. In Long-COVID patients, higher than normal levels of artemin, a protein associated with neuron development, is believed to be associated with symptoms of widespread pain and cognitive impairment. Another finding shows that virus proteins shed during an initial infection persist at detectable levels for 4 to 7 months in the blood of Long-COVID sufferers.

Current clinical trials to inhibit Galectin-9 using monoclonal antibodies are focused on cancer treatment. A monotherapy showing promise, called FG-3165, is targeting cancerous tumors and leukemia. Existing artemin suppression clinical trials also focus on cancer treatment. I could not find any Long COVID clinical trials targeting these proteins.

Another avenue of approach is being done at the London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute in London, Ontario. A global clinical trial using repurposed drugs involves 1,200 patients in a blind study that will look at quality of life, symptoms and biomarkers. States Dr. Douglas Fraser of the Schmidt Initiative, “Repurposing existing drugs would help rapidly address the urgent medical needs of Long COVID patients and could reduce health-care costs associated with prolonged disability.” The drugs being used are not identified. All the clinical trial states is that the drugs being used are affordable, available on the market and have been approved with half of those enrolled receiving placebos. Among the likely candidates are Metformin, Guanfacine, Celecoxib, Emtricitabine, Tenofovir, Folic Acid and Aspirin. Note, no Hydroxychloroquine or Remdesivir, drugs that were hyped during the initial onset of the COVID-19 pandemic but were found to be ineffective.

Hope for Our COVID Future

For me, it took more than 6 months to see my Long COVID symptoms dissipate. I have had no relapses. I’ve kept my vaccinations up to date. I have only had a repeat infection from the Omicron variant while on holiday in the Caribbean. Fortunately, it did not cause Long COVID symptoms.

The literature states that unvaccinated people are twice as likely to develop Long COVID as those who are vaccinated. I’ve talked to many who have not been vaccinated and have never been infected. I don’t know if this is the luck of the draw or if they have genetic or epigenetic advantages that have kept them healthy. My only tell to them is you only need to be infected once to potentially end up with a life-threatening condition or a prolonged bout of Long COVID and the impairments it can cause.

Fortunately, with current vaccines available and soon a nasal spray nano vaccine that could provide prolonged coverage for all variants, the tools are in place to end the COVID-19 pandemic that officially has been responsible globally for 7.7 million deaths and unofficially 18 million including those who have died from Long COVID.