lorenzo63
Age quod Agis
Ho letto con mia grande sorpresa che è in testing un vaccino contro la malria in Africa...Miete all' incirca un milione di morti ogni anno.. un'ecatombe...il 75%dei decessi e nei bambini al di sotto dei 5 anni.
Nonostante alcuni progressi grazie ad una certa diffusione delle zanzariere e di medicinali a base di artemisia che hanno permesso un certo miglioramento, la situazione è davvero grave.
Per la cronaca:
Leggendo l' articolo, sembra che tale vaccino sia frutto dell' impegno di Melinda e Bill Gates nelle opere umanitarie...se cosi' fosse tante malelingue (secondo le quali era solo fumo negli per chissà quali imboscamenti di denaro..) dovrebbero recarsi in pellegrinaggio da Bill con il capo cospaso di cenere...
A seguire l' articolo del wsj.
Researchers have begun a major clinical trial in Africa of what could become the world's first vaccine against malaria, a disease that kills nearly a million people every year.
The vaccine's developers -- drug giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC and the Path Malaria Vaccine Initiative, or MVI, a charitable group funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation -- began a study in 16,000 African children this week, the largest-ever trial of the potential inoculation
The study is part of a broader effort by the Gates Foundation, together with Glaxo and other drug companies, to develop vaccines and drugs that aren't commercially attractive but would help combat diseases that afflict poor regions such as sub-Saharan Africa. The malaria vaccine, which has performed well in smaller trials, could be available by 2013 if the larger trial goes well.
The latest study will include two age groups: infants and children five to 17 months old. Half of each group will get the vaccine and half a placebo. All will be given bed nets to protect against mosquitoes, which carry the disease. Then they will be followed over two years for signs of clinical malaria. The study is taking place in seven African countries, with the first shots happening this week in Tanzania.
Glaxo researchers in Belgium began working on the vaccine in the late 1980s. Over the past decade, MVI, through a grant from the Gates Foundation, has financed a series of smaller trials of the vaccine, which is the most advanced of any for malaria. In one study that ended last year in 809 African children, the vaccine reduced the children's risk of developing clinical malaria by 50% compared with a placebo.
Christian Loucq, director of MVI, said that if the shot shows the same efficacy in the larger trial, it would "definitely save hundreds of thousands of lives" each year.
The best way to prevent malaria today is through bed nets and insecticides that keep mosquitoes at bay. Drugs to treat malaria also exist, but they are in short supply in some countries. The parasite that causes malaria can also develop resistance to these drugs, as has happened recently along the Thai-Cambodian border, causing concern among health experts.
If the vaccine makes it to market, Glaxo will produce it at a factory in Belgium. Jean Stephenne, head of Glaxo's vaccine business, said in a telephone interview that donor groups such as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization will probably be the ones to buy the vaccine for developing countries.
Mr. Stephenne said Glaxo will ensure that price is not a "barrier to access," but he said it was too early to comment on exact pricing. A Glaxo spokeswoman said the company will seek to cover its cost of production. "The last thing we expect to do is make a profit in endemic malarial areas," she said.
Nonostante alcuni progressi grazie ad una certa diffusione delle zanzariere e di medicinali a base di artemisia che hanno permesso un certo miglioramento, la situazione è davvero grave.
Per la cronaca:
Leggendo l' articolo, sembra che tale vaccino sia frutto dell' impegno di Melinda e Bill Gates nelle opere umanitarie...se cosi' fosse tante malelingue (secondo le quali era solo fumo negli per chissà quali imboscamenti di denaro..) dovrebbero recarsi in pellegrinaggio da Bill con il capo cospaso di cenere...
A seguire l' articolo del wsj.
Researchers have begun a major clinical trial in Africa of what could become the world's first vaccine against malaria, a disease that kills nearly a million people every year.
The vaccine's developers -- drug giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC and the Path Malaria Vaccine Initiative, or MVI, a charitable group funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation -- began a study in 16,000 African children this week, the largest-ever trial of the potential inoculation
The study is part of a broader effort by the Gates Foundation, together with Glaxo and other drug companies, to develop vaccines and drugs that aren't commercially attractive but would help combat diseases that afflict poor regions such as sub-Saharan Africa. The malaria vaccine, which has performed well in smaller trials, could be available by 2013 if the larger trial goes well.
The latest study will include two age groups: infants and children five to 17 months old. Half of each group will get the vaccine and half a placebo. All will be given bed nets to protect against mosquitoes, which carry the disease. Then they will be followed over two years for signs of clinical malaria. The study is taking place in seven African countries, with the first shots happening this week in Tanzania.
Glaxo researchers in Belgium began working on the vaccine in the late 1980s. Over the past decade, MVI, through a grant from the Gates Foundation, has financed a series of smaller trials of the vaccine, which is the most advanced of any for malaria. In one study that ended last year in 809 African children, the vaccine reduced the children's risk of developing clinical malaria by 50% compared with a placebo.
Christian Loucq, director of MVI, said that if the shot shows the same efficacy in the larger trial, it would "definitely save hundreds of thousands of lives" each year.
The best way to prevent malaria today is through bed nets and insecticides that keep mosquitoes at bay. Drugs to treat malaria also exist, but they are in short supply in some countries. The parasite that causes malaria can also develop resistance to these drugs, as has happened recently along the Thai-Cambodian border, causing concern among health experts.
If the vaccine makes it to market, Glaxo will produce it at a factory in Belgium. Jean Stephenne, head of Glaxo's vaccine business, said in a telephone interview that donor groups such as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization will probably be the ones to buy the vaccine for developing countries.
Mr. Stephenne said Glaxo will ensure that price is not a "barrier to access," but he said it was too early to comment on exact pricing. A Glaxo spokeswoman said the company will seek to cover its cost of production. "The last thing we expect to do is make a profit in endemic malarial areas," she said.
