That was very exciting news. We will never be able to wipe out the vector, so ridding the world of the disease in unrealistic unless we are willing to wipe out the entire (non-human) primate community. If they can just formulate a vaccination for the worst of the malarias, it will most certainly mean a Nobel Prize.
So this is a Phase I trial, doesn’t that mean that it has many hurdles to go?
“An important challenge in the continued development of PfSPZ Vaccine is that the vaccine currently is administered intravenously – a rare delivery route for vaccines. Previous studies at lower doses have shown that the more common intradermal (into the skin) and subcutaneous (under the skin) routes did not yield as strong an immune response as the intravenous route.”
So about the intravenous challenge, doesn’t that mean that this Phase I PfSPZ vaccine is more risky to use than a subcutaneous one, or not?
Since there is already a Phase III vaccine], then Asanta, does that mean that the Phase III vaccine has passed all but the biggest hurdles? The link that I had posted to that other thread has expired, so this link updates the expired one:GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines (GSK) RTS,S AS01] .
Lets hope the vaccine works well.
But just a passing thought:
Wonder how much time and money went into this research.
If that same effort was put into buying mosquito nets and the likes, is it possible more cases of malaria could have been prevented.
Thats not to deny importance of making vaccines and medicine. But I’m just interested to know.
Lets hope the vaccine works well. But just a passing thought: Wonder how much time and money went into this research. If that same effort was put into buying mosquito nets and the likes, is it possible more cases of malaria could have been prevented. Thats not to deny importance of making vaccines and medicine. But I'm just interested to know.Mosquito nets are already cheap and there are programs in place to make them more available but they are only a partial solution to the problem. People in the parts of the world most affected by Malaria do not have a lot of leisure time to hide under mosquito nets. Nets can only protect people them they are sleeping. They don't protect them when they need to be up and about working and caring for their families. With nearly a million people dying in the world yearly from Malaria it seems like a good investment to try and develop a vaccine. A significant portion of the money going into malaria research is coming from Bill and Malinda Gates ( and Warren Buffet) and they have also put up money for mosquito nets I believe.
Nothing But Nets]
It’s a great program. I think it was around under a different name before Gates and Buffet got involved. Sports teams are big supporters too, making the “Nets” connection. And the United Methodist church. They were selected because they have the infrastructure of little buildings all over Africa and the trust of the local community. This secular/religious partnership is the first of its kind.