Month: October 2021

Cat Links Child health and development, Vaccines

The MAL-ED project

Posted on pascalbessong

A summary of the MAL-ED Project is worth highlighting. It was a landmark investigation. The MAL-ED Project, the short name for – The Etiology, Risk Factors, and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health – is to date, the largest study carried out in different countries and continents, to observe how infections in the large intestine of young children interact with the workings of their gut; how they affect children’s response to vaccines, and how the infections affect their growth in stature and in cognition (https://www.fic.nih.gov/About/Staff/Pages/mal-ed.aspx). The study was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and administered jointly by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health, USA; and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, USA. The MAL-ED Project was carried out in Brazil, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru, South Africa and Tanzania. The South Africa site was at the University of Venda (http://univen.ac.za ), and was lead by Professor Pascal Bessong. The study showed that a combination of intervention factors will be required to improve response to oral vaccines, school performance, and social advancement. One of the important findings is that children can suffer in ways that are not obvious due to a high burden of germs in their intestines, and this can negatively impact their education and socio-economic development later in life. The recommendation of the investigators is that a combination of interventions should be used to reduce the negative effects of intestinal infections in young children as they are grow older. The video above gives a summary of how the MAL-ED Project was carried out, the findings, and the recommendations. This was a successful community-based study. It involved engagement with a prospective community on the objectives of the study, for the community to understand the benefits that may accrue to them, and how they prefer to participate. In the South Africa site, in the Limpopo Province, field workers including nurses and data collectors were recruited from the community with the assistance of the community leadership, and trained for competence to collect quality datasets on disease and treatment surveillance; anthropometry; stool, urine, and blood collection; and feeding history for first five years of a child’s life (https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/59/suppl_4/S317/279507) The study provides evidence that communities of low socio-economic status can understand, contribute, mobilize and participate in intensive, longitudinal, observational, biomedical studies (Home). The study participants received regular feedbacks on the findings of the study, and the evidence they can use in their advocacy efforts towards improvement of their well-being. Society’s participation in scientific research can be very enriching, not only from the findings of the study itself, but also from the several spin-offs that contribute to the attainment of the sustainable development goals of the United Nations and African Union Agenda 2063 (https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4138-6).

Cat Links Vaccines

Vaccines are a win-win for all: Covid-19

Posted on pascalbessong

Vaccines are a win-win for all. Including Covid-19 vaccines. We are all exposed to, and infected by germs, such as bacteria, fungi, protozoans, or viruses. Some will not cause disease, while others will cause serious disease to some of us, sometimes leading to epidemics and pandemics.  One of the most powerful biomedical interventions to prevent the contraction and spread of diseases is vaccination. The Spanish flu of 1918-1920 is estimated to have infected about 500 million people and killed between 20-50 million people; then came flu vaccines that significantly control influenza up till today. We owe the eradication of small pox, and very soon, the eradication of polio mainly to vaccines. The recent containment and control of Ebola in Africa is due to vaccines. All over the world, the significant reductions in child mortality is mainly due to vaccinations against bacterial and viral germs. By receiving a vaccine, we are immunized to the disease the vaccine is directed against. Vaccines have improved human well-being and advanced civilization for decades. As of the date of writing Covid-19, has so far, killed more than five million people worldwide. And more may die in the future. Measures to curb the spread of the virus, such as travel restrictions and the closure of businesses led to enormous disruptions in education, travel, commerce and trade, culture, families and routines of daily life. Many people lost their jobs, others became impoverished, access to health services were disrupted. In the face of these enormous challenges, scientists set to work to develop vaccines against Covid-19. Although the vaccines are different in terms of how they were developed and dosing, they are all aimed at preventing disease, hospitalization, and deaths, and ending the pandemic, something that all of us are very eager to see.   There is a lot of anxiety among a significant proportion of people around the world about accepting Covid-19 vaccines. I have witnessed this anxiety within my own family and among friends and acquaintances. Some people are sceptical about the safety of the vaccines, citing the relatively short time it took to make the vaccines. There reasons why Covid-19 vaccines were developed and available for use within a relatively short time. Some of these reasons include: (1) The availability of advanced technologies for vaccine development. (2) The quick realization the vaccines are well tolerated and safe; and the individual produces enough antibodies that are protective against the virus. Without evidence that a vaccine will be well tolerated and that is there is potential to induce protection, progress is stalled. (3) The rapid availability of volunteers for large vaccine trials so that more data on safety and protection from diseases and hosptalization can be gathered.  (4) The priority given by data management and safety boards (DMSB) and by regulatory bodies to urgently review data from vaccine trials. (5) The ‘financial gamble’ taken by many governments to start manufacturing some of the vaccines once a good chance that they will be safe and protective was perceived. This type of a gamble has never been done before in vaccine production. Some people think Covid-19 vaccines will destroy our DNA. The components of the Covid-19 vaccines do not get integrated into our DNA, so the chance that they will destroy our DNA is almost nil. The mRNA used in the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines is processed in the cytoplasm to produce proteins corresponding to the proteins on the surface of the virus. The viral protein produced in the cytoplasm is what induces the immune response by the host, thereby providing protection when the real virus infects the body. As with all biomedical interventions, there is always room for improvement to enhance efficacy and utility of vaccines, and this happens with the accumulation of data and evidence over time. Covid-19 vaccines are a win-win for all and should be welcome developments; all governments and the private sector should seek ways and means to procure Covid-19 vaccines for their people. Getting vaccinated against Covid-19 and in combination with social distancing, hand sanitizing, and wearing of masks to cover our nose and mouth in public places, and by ventilating our homes more, we can keep the virus in proper check and ultimately eradicate it from our communities.

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Cat Links Vaccines

WHO approves vaccine for malaria!

Posted on pascalbessong

The WHO approves vaccine for malaria. The World Health Organization (WHO), this week, approved the widespread use of a new vaccine, called Mosquirix, for malaria. This is the first of its kind against malaria, and it is a huge breakthrough expected to significantly reduce suffering due to the disease, particularly in developing communities where the disease is most common all year round Mosquirix is recommend for the prevention of malaria in young children. African scientists were involved in the development of this vaccine. This is a good indications of the involvement of Africans in finding solutions to biomedical problems in Africa. https://www.who.int/news/item/06-10-2021-who-recommends-groundbreaking-malaria-vaccine-for-children-at-risk. Millions of people suffer from Malaria every year. The disease is more severe in children aged 5 years and below, killing thousands every year. Many drugs are available to treat malaria. But, over the years, resistance by the parasite to the most effective and cheap medicines has grown substantially. This means that management of the disease with cheap and common medicines has become difficult in many instances. As a result, poor people who cannot afford expensive alternative medicines, suffer the most. https://bessongthemicrobiologist.com/2021/11/13/antimicrobial-resistance/. This is why the approval of Mosquirix for the prevention of malaria by the WHO is a big development in the management of malaria globally, particularly in the developing world. The socio-economic impact of malaria is also very high, mainly due to absence from work when people are sick of malaria. Malaria is caused by the Plasmodium parasite. There are four types that infect humans: Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium malariae, and Plasmodium vivax. Each of these parasites can be more common in a particular region than the other. Generally, the most common is Plasmodium falciparum. The WHO approved vaccine is recommended for use in areas where Plasmodium falciparum is most common. Plasmodium is transmitted to humans through the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito. The mosquito thrives in tropical and subtropical climates, and breeds in stagnant water. The availability of a vaccine for malaria is highly welcomed; and there is hope that the efficacy of the vaccine will be improved upon as more evidence from its use emerges. As the WHO approves a vaccine for malaria, it is the hope that this will spur efforts in tackling other endemic infectious diseases in the developing world.