Painless sticking plaster flu jab that delivers vaccine into the skin has passed important safety tests in the first trial in people.

　　一种无痛的可以将流感疫苗送进人体的注射贴已经通过重要的安全测试，该次测试是这种产品第一次在人群中应用。

　　The patch has a hundred tiny hair-like microneedles on its adhesive side that penetrate the skin’s surface.

　　这种注射贴在其黏附面有一百根头发尖粗细的微针，它们可以穿透皮肤表面。

　　It is simple enough for people to stick on themselves.

　　对人们来说，自己给自己黏一下，这是再简单不过的事情了。

　　That should help more people get immunised, including those who are scared of injections, experts told the Lancet journal .

　　这会有助于更多的人获得免疫疾病的能力，包括那些害怕打针的人。专家告诉《柳叶刀》杂志。

　　Bye bye injections

　　和打针说再见

　　Unlike the standard flu jab, it doesn’t need to be kept in the fridge, meaning pharmacies could easily stock it on their shelves for people to buy.

　　不同通常的的流感疫苗，它不需要放在冰箱里保存，这意味着药房可以轻松地把他们摆在人们购物在货架上。

　　Volunteers who tested it said they preferred it to injections.

　　测试它的志愿者说，相比于打针，他们更喜欢它。

　　It offers the same protection as a regular vaccine, but without pain, according to its developers from Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology, who are funded by the US National Institutes of Health.

　　由美国国立卫生研究院资助的埃默里大学和佐治亚理工学院的开发人员说，它提供与常规的疫苗同样的保护，但没有疼痛。

　　The patch punctures the uppermost layers of the skin, whereas regular flu injections go all the way through and into muscle.

　　这种注射贴会穿刺皮肤的最表层，而普通疫苗的针剂则刺穿所有皮肤层，将药物注射进入肌肉。

　　Lead researcher Prof Mark Prausnitz, who is also part of a company that wants to license the technology, said: "If you zoom in under the microscope what you’ll see are microscopically small needles. They puncture painlessly into the skin."

　　首席研究员马克普劳斯尼茨教授，也是公司中想要该技术获得许可证的人，说:“如果你在显微镜下放大，你会看到它们是显微镜下才能看到的小针。他们能刺入皮肤而不使人疼痛。

　　His team tested the patch alongside flu injections.

　　他的团队测试了这种注射贴，同时测试了普通的针管注射。

　　Some of the 100 volunteers got the regular shot in the arm, while others applied the microneedle patch to their wrist for 20 minutes.

　　100 名志愿者中的一些人用普通的针管在手臂肌肉注射，而其他人应用微针注射贴在其手腕上 ，贴20 分钟。

　　Most said using the patch was painless, but some experienced mild side effects - redness, itching and tenderness in the area of skin area where it had been applied.

　　大部分人说使用这种注射贴不疼，但一些人会有轻微的副作用——在粘贴的位置会有一些发红，发痒，发痛。

　　These symptoms got better on their own over days.

　　几天过去，这些症状会自己好转。

　　Easy to use

　　使用更简便

　　Experts say the patch could revolutionize how flu and other vaccines are given, although more clinical tests over the next few years are needed to get the patch system approved for widespread use.

　　专家说，尽管在未来几年需要更多的临床试验，这种注射贴才能得到批准广泛使用，但它将彻底变革流感和其他疫苗的给药方式。

　　Dr Nadine Rouphael, from Emory University, said: "We could envisage vaccination at home, in the workplace or even via mail distribution."

　　埃默里大学的纳丁 · 拉斐尔说:“我们可以设想一下，我们在家里、在工作场所接种疫苗，甚或通过邮件分发疫苗。”

　　The patch can be thrown in the bin after it is used because the microneedles dissolve away.

　　因为用过之后注射贴的微针就会溶解掉，所以注射贴在用完之后可以直接扔进垃圾桶。

　　And because it can be safely stored for up to a year without refrigeration, it could prove extremely useful in the developing world.

　　它可以在无制冷条件下安全地存储长达一年，因此它在发展中世界将大有可为。

　　Experts from Public Health England said it might also be good to use in young children, who tend not to like needles, although the UK has already introduced anasal spray flu vaccine for them.

　　英国公共卫生专家说，尽管英国已经为那些讨厌打针的幼年儿童开发了喷雾流感疫苗，把这种注射贴应用于他们也很不错，

　　John Edmunds, an expert in infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "This study is undoubtedly an important step towards a better way to deliver future vaccines."

　　伦敦卫生与热带医学院的传染性疾病专家约翰 · 埃德蒙兹说:"这项研究无疑是迈向未来疫苗研究更好方式的重要一步"。

　　Other researchers have also been looking at pain-free skin delivery.

　　其他研究人员也一直在研究无痛苦的皮肤注射。

　　A flu shot syringe that uses a microneedle has already been approved for use in the US.

　　用于注射流感疫苗的微针已经在美国批准使用。

　　Scientists in Australia have been designing a nanotech with even smaller needles.

　　澳大利亚的科学家们一直在用纳米技术设计更小的针。