New Vaccine Offers 100 Percent Protection Against Malaria An unprecedented find by US researchers, capable of providing humans, for the first time in history, 100 percent protection against malaria, has offered a broad new glimpse of hope for the estimated 97% of Nigeria’s population at risk of the sickness. The vaccine, announced this week after two years of a limited trial, can provided absolute protection if a full dosage of five intravenous injections is administered; the first time that happens experts say. Separately, another team of researchers have also announced a new product, Kite Patch, capable of keeping people invisible from mosquitoes for up to 48 hours, furthering hope for the millions of Nigerians afflicted by malaria yearly. Grim statistics for Nigeria No nation is worse ravaged by malaria than Nigeria, according to WHO statistics; and alongside the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria accounts for over 40% of the estimated total of malaria deaths globally. There are an estimated 100 million malaria cases with over 300,000 deaths per year in Nigeria, according to Nigeria malaria factsheet. This compares with 215,000 deaths per year in Nigeria from HIV/AIDS. Malaria contributes to an estimated 11% of maternal mortality while the nation loses billions of naira yearly in treatment efforts and economic cost of the sickness. Hope on the horizon Kite Patch holds a faster hope that could help drive back the attack, with an adhesive square that pumps out a cocktail of human-safe chemicals that neutralises the Carbon Dioxide produced by humans – which normally is the attraction for mosquitoes. The card can be worn on the cloth and mosquitoes will be unaware of the person’s presence. Developed by California-based Olfactor Laboratories, Kite Patch is to be tested on a large scale in Uganda and the firm estimate is that the product will be available in the market in the six months. But the new vaccine, dubbed PfSPZ, gives absolute protection from malaria infection when administered. In total, 57 people took part in the trial, with 40 receiving some doses of the vaccine after which they were attacked by infectious mosquitoes after a week. The six persons who were given five intravenous doses of PfSPZ were entirely protected, with none becoming infected with the disease. Of the nine who received four doses of the vaccine, three became infected. But of 12 who received no vaccine, 11 tested positive for the disease. The people who were infected were then treated with an anti-malarial drug. None of the participants, who all took part in the study between October 2011 and October 2012, had any side effects from the new vaccine. The absolute protection for volunteers who received full dose is the first in history and very key to the future development of a vaccine, scientists said. Several vaccines for malaria have been developed over the past few decades, but none offered complete protection...
Posted on: Sun, 11 Aug 2013 15:22:41 +0000
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