"Malaria vaccine trial raises cautious hopes"
Background INFORMATION
1. What is a vaccine?
A vaccine is an antigen that gives your body immunity against a disease. It’s a weakened form of the disease, usually given by a needle or liquid. They stimulate your body so it creates antibodies. If the antigen ever enters your body, you already have the antibodies to fight it.
2. Where does the word vaccine come from?
Vaccine comes from the word vacca. Vacca means cow in Latin.
3. Why does a vaccine have to be a specifically prepared version of a disease pathogen?
A vaccine has to be a specifically prepared version of a disease pathogen because it has to be strong enough to trigger the immune system and get the body to produce antibodies. It also has to be weak enough that the person getting vaccinated doesn’t get sick.
A vaccine is an antigen that gives your body immunity against a disease. It’s a weakened form of the disease, usually given by a needle or liquid. They stimulate your body so it creates antibodies. If the antigen ever enters your body, you already have the antibodies to fight it.
2. Where does the word vaccine come from?
Vaccine comes from the word vacca. Vacca means cow in Latin.
3. Why does a vaccine have to be a specifically prepared version of a disease pathogen?
A vaccine has to be a specifically prepared version of a disease pathogen because it has to be strong enough to trigger the immune system and get the body to produce antibodies. It also has to be weak enough that the person getting vaccinated doesn’t get sick.
SUMMARY
Malaria, a disease caused by parasites, is quite common in tropical countries and can be very fatal. For the past years, scientists have been looking for an effective vaccine. RTS,S/AS01, a vaccine that was under development since 1987, was pretty successful and has been recommended. Although malaria is a very difficult disease and the vaccines cost a lot of money, developers are still trying very hard to create an even more effective vaccine.
sPECIFIC QUESTIONs
1. What is malaria?
Malaria is a disease caused by a tiny single cell particle that wreaks havoc in tropical countries.
2. Is malaria an issue for human health? Provide some evidence.
Malaria is transmitted to humans by a mosquito bite. The organism matures in the liver and eventually moves into the bloodstream. As a result, the symptoms are: chills, fevers, headaches and vomiting. If not treated, malaria can be fatal. This disease is especially dangerous for young children, pregnant women, and people with HIV or AIDS. Out of the infected, about 780,000 people have died every year, most of them children.
3. How was this malaria vaccine created?
A vaccine called artemisinin is known to treat malaria effectively. Since 1987, scientists have developed a drug in which they fused a protein from the parasite ‘Plasmodium falciparum’ (which causes malaria in southern and central Africa) with a protein from the hepatitis B virus. This fused protein causes the body to mount a large immune response to the parasite protein. The antibodies prevent the parasites from entering the liver so that the virus cannot continue it’s lifecycle through the bloodstream.
4. How effective was this malaria vaccine based on preliminary results? Compare this to the effectiveness of most childhood vaccines.
Preliminary results for the 5-to-17-month-old age group have been recently announced. The researchers concluded that the vaccine is about 50% effective at preventing malaria in this age group. The result of the protection rate is similar for children who only got the first dose of the vaccine. The data for the 5-12 week age group has been said to be posted in a further date. Researchers estimated that the protective efficacy for the younger group was only 35%. Like some other vaccines, scientists have yet to come up with a solid cure for the disease.
Malaria is a disease caused by a tiny single cell particle that wreaks havoc in tropical countries.
2. Is malaria an issue for human health? Provide some evidence.
Malaria is transmitted to humans by a mosquito bite. The organism matures in the liver and eventually moves into the bloodstream. As a result, the symptoms are: chills, fevers, headaches and vomiting. If not treated, malaria can be fatal. This disease is especially dangerous for young children, pregnant women, and people with HIV or AIDS. Out of the infected, about 780,000 people have died every year, most of them children.
3. How was this malaria vaccine created?
A vaccine called artemisinin is known to treat malaria effectively. Since 1987, scientists have developed a drug in which they fused a protein from the parasite ‘Plasmodium falciparum’ (which causes malaria in southern and central Africa) with a protein from the hepatitis B virus. This fused protein causes the body to mount a large immune response to the parasite protein. The antibodies prevent the parasites from entering the liver so that the virus cannot continue it’s lifecycle through the bloodstream.
4. How effective was this malaria vaccine based on preliminary results? Compare this to the effectiveness of most childhood vaccines.
Preliminary results for the 5-to-17-month-old age group have been recently announced. The researchers concluded that the vaccine is about 50% effective at preventing malaria in this age group. The result of the protection rate is similar for children who only got the first dose of the vaccine. The data for the 5-12 week age group has been said to be posted in a further date. Researchers estimated that the protective efficacy for the younger group was only 35%. Like some other vaccines, scientists have yet to come up with a solid cure for the disease.