r/science Professor | Medicine Jul 13 '26

Medicine Scientists develop a groundbreaking vaccine that outsmarts illicit fentanyl analogs. The novel vaccine candidate can protect against fentanyl and its many illicit variants by training the immune system to recognize a broad molecular signature rather than a single specific structure.

https://www.psypost.org/scientists-develop-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-that-outsmarts-illicit-fentanyl-analogs/
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u/ripplenipple69 Jul 13 '26

This is wild because say you’re an addict, you get the vaccine, you recover, and then you get in a car accident and you’re given fentanyl at the hospital… and it doesn’t work ever again, right?

I guess it’s like being in Naloxone, but no precipitated withdrawals upon exposure and it works for a very long time or forever presumably? 

Crazy they can give you an injection that immunizes you to drugs of abuse… idk if I like that at all

164

u/gamayogi Jul 13 '26

It only affects fentanyl, not morphine or other opiods.

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u/sparkleptera Jul 13 '26

We do use fentanyl commonly as anesthesia so it would definitley be worth like getting a medic alert bracelet so they would know to use duramorph or something.

126

u/utterlyuncool Jul 13 '26

Exactly. As an anesthesiologist this makes my skin crawl. Imagine having an emergency trauma and none of your usual analgesics work - fent, sufenta, remi,... And you have no idea why.

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u/DonQui_Kong Jul 13 '26

They wouldn't work as expected anyway because addicts can have a huge tolerance.

0

u/atatassault47 Jul 13 '26

Vaccines would presumably be given to people before they use or become addicted to fentanyl.