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| Sunday, 25 August 2002 |
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Vaccine to curb deadly effects of malaria? by Clifford Landers from Melbourne Amedical scientist here has created a vaccine that may curb the deadly effects of malaria that kills two million people and infects 500 million a year. The vaccine created by Dr. Louis Schofield of Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, is sugar-based which may revolutionise prevention of the mosquito-borne disease and improve the health of hundreds of millions of people around the world. Up to 95 per cent of the world's children could be given the malaria vaccine at three months of age if the trial succeeds. Dr. Schofield said.. "Since it is sugar-based, this vaccine which was made from six to seven sugar molecules, can be made cheaply for children in poor countries worst hit by malaria". Dr. Schofield proved for the first time in history that malaria leads to death because the parasites produce a tiny cloud of toxins that attacked human tissue. He explained that "The vaccine destroys these toxic clouds rather than the parasites themselves". It is understood that many other medical scientists around the world including two groups in Australia, are working on vaccines that could itself attack the parasites. It is hoped that a human vaccine will be available in five years after tests on mice found it stopped them falling ill when infected with the parasite. According to Dr. Schofield a final vaccine might include a component to kill the parasites and a component to destroy the toxic clouds. "But the discovery could prove important as stand-alone vaccine as killing the parasites is difficult, partly because they have been living in the blood of humans for thousands of years". Dr. Schofield said he hopes that once his new-found vaccine destroys the toxic clouds, the body will kill the parasites by itself. "In humans, I would hope this would provide protection against the worst ravages of the disease, while allowing the host to mount an immune response to the parasite". He added:"If we translate the promising vaccine test results from mice to humans, we have the potential to improve the health and living standards of hundreds of millions of people". Dr. Schofield explaining further said that an infected mosquito injects the malaria parasite when it bites and then the parasites invades the liver first, then red cells where they multiply. "Thereafter I discovered that the parasites then burst out of the infected red cells and released destructive toxic clouds, which severely damage human tissue". Grapefruit could effect medication Meanwhile, an Australian health authority warned yesterday that grapefruit could be dangerous and have a deadly effect on patients taking any of the common medications. The New South Wales Health Department which issued a public health alert yesterday, warned that eating grapefruit or drinking the juice can cause potentially serious side effects for people taking certain drugs for high-blood pressure, arthritis, epilepsy, organ transplant, psoriasis and HIV/AIDS. NSW Chief Health Officer, Dr. Greg Stewart explained that "Tests have shown grapefruit juice suppresses an enzyme which helps break down the medication and also the effect could last for several hours after eating the fruit". He added that "Possible complications can include heart rhythm disturbances, impaired kidney function, blood pressure changes and anaemia while the medications affected include felodipine, cyclosporin, tacrolimus, Zocor, Lipex, Lipitor, Tegretol, Indinavir, and saquinavir". He strongly advised that anyone concerned about their medication can or should check with their own doctors, general practitioners or pharmacist. |
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