As swine flu season begins, many people aren’t worrying about getting sick; they’re dreading the vaccine. Simone Hudson (’12) freely admits that she is terrified of needles. “I just hate needles,” she explains. “[They] freak me out…the thought alone makes me wince.” The Journal of Family Practice estimates that 10% of the nation is affected by severe needle phobia, including fainting at the sight of needles or refusing necessary medical care if it has to be given through needles. And even those without needle phobia wouldn’t mind avoiding getting stuck in the arm.

And help may be on the way. Kathy Callender, founder of the Colorado-based company PharmaJet, realized years ago that “somebody needs to solve this problem of needles.” After five years of work, PharmaJet has just received FDA approval for their needle-free injection system, which is currently being used to administer seasonal flu shots in Colorado and New Jersey.

PharmaJet’s system harnesses pressure to spray vaccine into a patient’s body, using a loaded spring attached to a tiny plastic cylinder filled with vaccine. “No needle,“ says Rajen Dalal, chief executive officer and president of the company, whohelped demonstrate PharmaJet’s delivery system recently in San Francisco. “It’s like a squirt gun.”

Doctors, nurses, and administrators crowded into an office in Dr. Eileen Aicardi’s Laurel Village practice on September 14th while Callender demonstrated the system to the nurses. Several decided to get their seasonal flu shots needle-free on the spot.

In practice, the experience of getting a needle-free injection isn’t very different from getting one with a needle. But it might make a big difference for needle-fearers like Hudson that nothing sharp is actually entering her shoulder. “I feel a little sting from the chemical, but I think it’s the idea,” reported Kathy Chebib, office administrator. Dalal’s son, Kavi, who received his booster shots needle-free at Aicardi’s office, agreed that the chemical made all the difference: one injection stung, but he didn’t feel the other at all.

While few people are fans of needles, practices need to think about whether the retooling with needle-free systems is worth the time, money, and training it would require. This is especially relevant if needle-free doesn’t necessarily feel different from syringe injections. And since PharmaJet’s system is still under development, there are still issues to be worked through. For example, modern syringes come prefilled, making an injection process fast and efficient, whereas the nurse performing a needle-free injection has to fill the plastic cylinder manually.

Unfortunately, needle-free vaccination won’t be an option for those deciding whether to get the H1N1 vaccination in the coming months. But according to Aicardi, flu vaccines aren’t the only thing high schoolers need to worry about: because of scientific advances in vaccination, such as the new HPV vaccine, kids over 11 will be receiving more and more shots in the coming years. Dalal predicts that needle-free vaccinations will be widely available for the 2010 flu season. Maybe this will make trips to the doctor less traumatic for Urban students like Hudson.

See needle-free vaccines for yourself in this video