RE: Mosquitos being tested to be vaccinators against malaria

[Guest guest]

Two British scientists doing health related work far more important than

chasing " Bird viruses " .... Malaria still kills more kids in Africa than

does D.U. in Iraq. Anyone concerned that once the mosquito " delivery

platform " is refined, it may not always be used for everyone's benefit?

On surface, this sounds like a dream come true if you're a population

control guy.

 

 

 

Take care, Shag

STATISTICS ON MALARIA

* Malaria is one of the planet's deadliest diseases and one of the

leading causes of sickness and death in the developing world. According

to the World Health Organization there are 300 to 500 million clinical

cases of malaria each year resulting in 1.5 to 2.7 million deaths. *

Children aged one to four are the most vulnerable to infection and

death. Malaria is responsible for as many as half the deaths of African

children under the age of five. The disease kills more than one million

children - 2,800 per day - each year in Africa alone. In regions of

intense transmission, 40% of toddlers may die of acute malaria. *

About 40% of the world's population - about two billion people - are at

risk in about 90 countries and territories. 80 to 90% of malaria deaths

occur in sub-Saharan Africa where 90% of the infected people live. *

Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest malaria infection

rate. Here alone, the disease kills at least one million people each

year. According to some estimates, 275 million out of a total of 530

million people have malaria parasites in their blood, although they may

not develop symptoms. * Of the four human malaria strains,

Plasmodium falciparum is the most common and deadly form. It is

responsible for about 95% of malaria deaths worldwide and has a

mortality rate of 1-3%. * In the early 1960s, only 10% the world's

population was at risk of contracting malaria. This rose to 40% as

mosquitoes developed resistance to pesticides and malaria parasites

developed resistance to treatment drugs. Malaria is now spreading to

areas previously free of the disease. * Malaria kills 8,000

Brazilians yearly - more than AIDS and cholera combined. * There

were 483 reported cases of malaria in Canada in 1993, according to

Health Canada and approximately 431 in 1994. The Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention in the United States received reports of 910

cases of malaria in 1992 and seven of those cases were acquired there.

In 1970, reported malaria cases in the U.S. were 4,247 with more than

4,000 of the total being U.S. military personnel. * According to

material from Third World Network Features, in Africa alone, direct and

indirect costs of malaria amounted to US $800 million in 1987 and are

expected to reach US $1.8 billion annually by 1995.

 

To explore other links on malaria

<http://archive.idrc.ca/books/reports/1996/01-01e.html#Pour>

 

CDC---On This Page:

Malaria in the United States

<http://www.cdc.gov/Malaria/facts.htm#USandMalaria> | Malaria Worldwide

<http://www.cdc.gov/Malaria/facts.htm#WorldMalaria> | Biology,

Pathology, Epidemiology

<http://www.cdc.gov/Malaria/facts.htm#BioPathEpi> | Prevention and

Treatment <http://www.cdc.gov/Malaria/facts.htm#PreventionTreatment>

 

 

 

 

 

Avian2005 , " Randice " <randiceaj wrote:

 

Source: Associated Press

 

Two British scientists are using genetically engineered mosquitoes as

flying syringes to try to vaccinate people against malaria and other

diseases. Professor Bob Sinden of the University of London's Imperial

College and Professor Julian Crampton of Liverpool University's School

of Tropical Medicine say they have taken a key step in the process but

still have a long way to go. The two scientists received a patent last

year, but their technique is only being publicized now following a

report by Derwent, a scientific information company.

 

" The key thing that we're doing is using the mosquito as the syringe, "

Sinden said in an interview Monday. " We are using malaria as an

example. " What the scientists are trying to do is similar to what was

done in developing the polio vaccine: take bits of the parasite that

causes malaria and put it into the body so the body builds up its own

immunity. Malaria is transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected

mosquito. The scientists' idea is to use genetically engineered

mosquitos that vaccinate the people they bite instead of giving them

malaria. " In the world you have 400 million cases of malaria a year, and

what we are looking to do is produce vaccines against this disease, "

Sinden said. " What numerous scientists are doing are looking for

parasite proteins that are critically important for growth of the

malaria, and then to immunize people with those proteins, and this will

then incapacitate the malaria parasite, " he said.

 

In their technique, a genetically engineered mosquito would transfer a

protein through its saliva which would act as a vaccine to immunize a

person against malaria. The trick is to modify the insect's salivary

gland by introducing a parasite gene that produces an antigen known to

stimulate the body to resist the malaria parasite, Sinden said. " We have

successfully taken a malaria gene and put it into a mosquito salivary

gland where the parasite protein is made and then used the salivary

gland to immunize a mouse so that the mouse will not transmit malaria, "

he said. Crampton's team of researchers introduced the gene into

isolated salivary glands from the mosquito, he said. What the scientists

now have to do - " and this is a huge step " - is to carry out the

experiment in a live mosquito instead of in a test tube so when it bites

" it spits the parasite protein which will immunize you against malaria, "

Sinden said. " The big problem that we've got is that the technology for

introducing genes into whole mosquitos is only just emerging, and until

that step is completed, we are still talking of a theory, " he said.

 

But the scientists are optimistic the technique will emerge in the near

future. Potentially, the technique could be used to immunize people and

animals against a wide range of diseases, and any biting insect could be

used to carry the vaccine, not just mosquitoes, Sinden said. " We are

extremely cautious about testing these mosquitoes in closed laboratory

colonies, and we have no intention of releasing any genetically

engineered insect without full and detailed technical and safety

considerations, " he said.

 

ROBERT CATHEY RESEARCH SOURCE

113 S.E. 61ST AVENUE

PORTLAND, OREGON 97215-1234

(503)234-7878 (503)238-0469

FAX Internet: rcrs <rcrs

URL: http://www.navi.net/~rsc <http://www.navi.net/%7Ersc>

 

Randi Airola

517-819-5926

 

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