Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Scientists working at Queensland’s Griffith University have developed what they claim is the world’s first long term effective Malaria vaccine. If this new, cheap vaccine lives up to its promise, it will save millions of poor people who cannot afford Malaria drugs.
Queensland researchers develop world first malaria vaccine
Kara Vickery, The Sunday Mail (Qld)
March 26, 2017 7:00am
QUEENSLAND researchers believe they could be the first in the world to find an effective vaccine for malaria, after a successful trial in humans.
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Griffith University professor Michael Good said it was a significant step forward in the search for immunisation against one of the world’s most deadly diseases.
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Prof Good said the vaccine used a form of the malaria parasite that lives in red blood cells, but has had its DNA altered so it cannot multiply and therefore does not cause disease.
“That parasite though is nevertheless capable of inducing an immune response,” he said.
“The immune system looks at that and thinks that it’s really seeing the malaria, the real malaria, whereas in fact it is seeing an (altered) version of the malaria.”
Prof Good said the university was now fundraising for the $500,000 it needed for the next round of trials, which would likely involve up to 30 volunteers who would be given three doses of the vaccine.
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I was listening to an interview this morning with Professor Good.
Professor Good’s approach, using a disabled version of real live Malaria parasites to stimulate the immune system, apparently stimulates a different response to previous Malaria vaccines. Instead of stimulating an antibody response which targets specific Malaria proteins, which can easily be confused by rapid mutations which alter surface proteins on the Malaria parasites, Professor Good’s approach stimulates a killer T-cell response. Killer T-cells are responsible for destroying cancer cells or cells which are damaged by viruses, toxins or in this case Malaria parasites. The disabled parasites in the Malaria vaccine actually attack the body in exactly the same way a real Malaria infection does, but the specially prepared vaccine parasites cannot multiply – their ability to spread the infection throughout the body has been disabled. This practice infection teaches the body’s killer T-cells learn to recognise damaged cells which have been infiltrated by Malaria parasites, so when the body faces a real Malaria infection, the infection is rapidly suppressed before it can do any harm.
This is not the first attempt to create a Malaria vaccine, but previous attempts to create Malaria vaccines only provided a few months protection – their effectiveness rapidly declines. Professor Good hopes his new approach will be different, will offer long term protection.
Although Professor Good has received some government funding, his team is currently appealing for private donations for the next round of Malaria vaccine trials.
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Saving millions from malaria is probably easier than keeping millions from starving to death after their vaccinations.
Indeed. They have to be fed and the population increase will be enormous in countries tht already cannot support their populations.
There are two universal preconditions to stop population explosion:
1. Decrease infant mortality
2. Provide proper schooling for girls
A vaccine against malaria is a great step towards (1), so only condition (2) should be met.
Increasing life expectancy never leads to population explosion, because no one is able to produce more than one old fart by not dying early.
I hope this works out. We’re never going to get DDT back, so a vaccine is the best way to save these people from maleria.
I used to think so too. Then I read Michael Palmer’s post at 5:47 and the link he provided.
Unlike Willis, I have not personally suffered malaria. But workers I supervised in Sudan would too often not show up for work suddenly and the story was always malaria. I witnessed its onset one day as a strong young man collapsed in a matter of hours and had to go home. I am sure his family suffered too from the lack of income.
Do you really think we can get DDT back? Or that mosquito nets work? I guess I just think that this is the best shot. Maybe not.
I get sudden onset with common cold/flu. Wake up in morning feeling fine, in 6 or so hours I have high fever, severe chills and muscle spams, vomiting and rapid dehydration. Another 6 hours or so and it passes, feel like crap for a day or so after, otherwise fine. I always connected this to having had malaria, was not until I had gone through extensive testing after being diagnosed with sjogrens syndrome that a doctor gave that any consideration. None will say yea/nay, all say maybe.
So, it is GM stuff. In that case Greenpeace would certainly fight it to the bitter end.
Right after they outlaw insulin from ecoli bacteria and three-parent babies, I assume.
On the same topic, but a bit more SF – there will be a free presentation April 28, 2017 in Washington, DC.
The Mosquito, Synthetic Biology, CRISPR, and Malaria
Using Gene Modification and Gene Drive to Eradicate a Disease
https://www.meetup.com/philsoc/events/238284643/
They are modifying mosquito genes to kill Plasmodium falciparum in order to completely block the transmission of malaria. This is claimed to be 99.5% effective in the laboratory.
As a Rotary Club member, I know the power of cooperation and planning. Rotary International has been the leader in fighting Polio for 60 years and worldwide eradication is almost complete.
Rotary has taken up the fight on Malaria as one of its new initiatives. Let’s hope the same success will happen. The connections that Rotary has with WHO, Gates Foundation, and local governments worldwide makes Rotary well positioned to repeat the Polio success, using similar comprehensive approaches.
See here: https://www.rotary.org/en/our-causes/fighting-disease
It is only the biggest medical breakthrough claim ever!! Malaria kills more people than everything.
I hope it is real. Raising money should be a snap! Except the Malthusians rely on malaria to keep population growth down. No money from the greens!
Paul, I think HIV (often combined with TB) kills far more people than malaria. It is interesting, is it not, that huge resources have been put, and are being put, into ‘managing HIV as a chronic condition’ and so little has been put into ‘living with malaria’.
Malaria and Zika are mich greater long term threats than HIV. And guess who is threatened? Real democracy would have those affected have a say in what to work on, and what profit structure is reasonable.
Interestingly there is a complete cure for HIV, but it is hideously dangerous and difficult.
A small percentage of people are naturally immune, or at least very resistant to HIV – they contain a mutation to their cell receptors which prevents the virus from gaining a foothold. Interestingly the way HIV gains access to cells is similar to the way the Black Death gained access to cells, so this natural resistance is most prevalent in regions which were worst hit by the Black Death.
Where it gets interesting is the immune system is an organ which can be transplanted, to genetically compatible recipients. The mutation which confers immunity to HIV does not cause genetic incompatibility.
The immune system transplant is old news – transplanting someone’s immune system is the cure for leukaemia. But in HIV patients it is especially difficult. The first step of the transplant involves destroying what is left of their old immunity, with radiation or harsh drugs. Then you have to somehow keep them alive for the month or so it takes for their new immune system to start functioning.
This cure has only been performed a handful of times. More research might make transform this cure from a laboratory curiosity to a mainstream therapy.
http://www.bloodjournal.org/content/117/10/2791?sso-checked=true
Eric Worrall March 28, 2017 at 3:13 am
Interestingly there is a complete cure for HIV, but it is hideously dangerous and difficult.
The CCR5 delta32 mutation only works for certain strains of HIV, also in later stage of the infection HIV1 is able to switch to another mode of entry so clearly the possibility of bypassing CCR5 by the virus exists.
Diabetes keeps killng more than Malaria.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en/
Perhaps this might encourage some Africans to have fewer kids – because more of these kids would survive. I doubt it though.
On the other hand, if White or Yellow man can take over countries in Africa without the disease-risk, that would be bad news for the locals. Let’s not forget that Africa is a very rich continent and disease has been a major reason for these resources being left in the ground.
In the 19th century, the British who went to Nigeria to work as government employees had a life expectancy of a few months. The blacks were brought as slaves to the Americas – because they had some immunity to malaria and yellow fever which the Whites and indigenous peoples did not have.
The only way to encourage people to have fewer children is by improving health and wealth and living standards generally. And that will only happen once they get access to cheap and reliable energy, and free markets and the rule of law.
I spent some time on Misima Island. There the mining company wanted to contribute to the populations health as well as their future fund. The two biggest killers of children were malaria and filariasis. They had Townsville University do some research and they soon found a cure, dogs heart worm tablets. Essentially the disease deaths was eradicated quickly. Unintended consequences. The islands population which had been growing at a modest rate since 1910, almost doubled in the next ten years.
With the rate of population increase in Africa currently, can you imagine the increase when malaria is consigned to history?
Is letting people die the way to control population?
So, Buckshot, just where do you think new drugs come from, the Tooth Fairy? Forbes puts the cost at around $5 billion. Each. Foe just one. Tufts University puts the cost at $2.6 billion. Of course, most experimental drugs never come to market, so those costs have to be paid for by the profits made on successful drugs. I have read that some 80% of all drug research is done in these United States. Can you guess why? Wnat do you suppose would hppen if you cut their profits to what you think is fair? If you think that “Big Pharma” is making obscene profits, then you should mortgage everything you have and take your retirement savings and invest in “Big Pharma” and get filthy rich. A word of warning, though. Ask your advisor first. Huge profits just aren’t there.
Let’s see the list of possible side effects.
I seriously doubt this vaccine is safer than DDT, which controls more than just malaria
Or we could just spray with DDT, at a fraction of the cost and with greater effect, in perfect safety.
Now, QLD researchers, how ’bout a vaccine against the other million Antipodean stingers, biters, chewers, and thumpers that have it in for homo sapiens?