Being in a class with Andrew I couldn’t help but see this article. That is because the topic of this article was Malaria, and I remembered Andrew telling us that he was currently researching on the 3 players that cause Malaria. Though this article is over a month old, this article is about how they found that multiple injections with inactivated Malaria parasites can protect against the disease. Though, the findings are early, and it takes many doses to work, they are working on being able to mass deliver to the third world countries.
The studies conducted on the patients were very positive. 15 volunteers were given 4-5 doses of the vaccine, and over several months were testes while they were being bitten will malarial mosquitoes. 12 volunteers showed no disease. Scientists already knew about the concept of vaccinations, the concept of using weakened versions of the Malaria parasites to make patients’ immune.
Though this was a small step, it is all steps towards a Malaria free world with its successful research.
(Sorry for such a short blog) but here’s a list funny short stories CLICK HERE
How are you guys liking the class so far?
For the most part we don’t need to worry about malaria due to climate. There are cases of malaria in North America but it is found in places such as Mexico. The link below refers to an article witch addresses the issue. Apparently, malaria was once spread through southern parts of the United States. However, a campaign started in 1947 in effort to stop the disease. Transmission numbers were reduced enough that by the 1950’s malaria was considered eliminated. Every now and again there is a case in the U.S. or Canada due to mosquitoes being accidentally transported across borders.
http://www.malaria.com/questions/malaria-north-america
I think that Malaria is a very important issue that many people have to deal with in other countries. I agree with Karly in asking the question “Can this disease be transferred in PA?”. I think that if this vaccination isn’t too expensive, that it would relaly be helpful for those who are suffering with the disease.
In the article it says that of the six patients who received 5 doses showed no infection. However, 3 of the 9 patients who only received 4 shots still showed infection. That being said do you believe it is really practical for such vaccines to reach underprivileged countries over-ruled by malaria? I am no expert but I would assume 5 doses per each of the 219 million infected people reported in 2010 (according to World Health Organization) would get pretty expensive and for that matter impractical. I don’t want to seem pessimistic I’m just pointing out there is more work to be done. We can only hope that more progress is made.
I remember when our teacher was talking about malaria. This is a very scary disease to pick up, especially because mosquitos are everywhere. Can this disease be transferred in PA, or State College for that matter? I would love to learn more about malaria because I do not know much about it. All I know is I do not like mosquitos or any type of insects for that matter.