The discovery of a new malaria vaccine by a Nigerian professor has indicated all hope is not lost in the quest to remove Nigeria from the list of countries still grappling with the disease which claims millions of lives annually.
NasiruShua’ibu, a professor of Biochemical Parasitology Department, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria said he has developed the new malaria vaccine which is different from others currently in use and the result of the research on the new vaccine would soon be out for Nigerians to use.
“In a simple term that a layman can understand, the content of this malaria vaccine research is difficult, but let me try if I could simplify it, it is called DNA Vaccine.
“It is a new technology for discovery and delivery of vaccine against any infectious disease that was developed in the early to mid 1990s.
“The DNA of the malaria parasite was extracted and the portion of the DNA that is tested to be a good vaccine candidate is subjected to molecular biology methods which are used to produce a lot of the DNA,” Shu’aibu told NAN.
The malaria global report for 2015 showed that 15 countries accounted for 80% of cases, and 15 countries accounted for 78% of deaths. The global burden of mortality is dominated by countries in sub-Saharan Africa, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria together accounting for more than 35% of the global total of estimated malaria deaths.
Malaria killed an estimated 584,000 people in 2013, the vast majority of them in sub-Saharan Africa. More than 80 percent of malaria deaths are in children under the age of five.
Decreases in case incidence and mortality rates were slowest in countries that had the largest numbers of malaria cases and deaths in 2000. Reductions in incidence need to be greatly accelerated in these countries if global progress is to improve.
Also, a review of trends in 186 hospitals in Nigeria between 2005 and 2013 in the world malaria report indicated an increase, or no change, in confirmed malaria cases, admissions and deaths for all age groups, and a stable SPR (59%).
According to Shu’aibu the amount of DNA from the malaria parasite was very minute in quantity and to expand the quantity, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was used.
“Then a method of cloning is now used to insert the DNA into a vehicle that will carry the DNA into either animal or human body. It is then injected into the body of the animal or human and it eventually enters the cells of the animal in the same way a virus enters and infects cells.
“The injected DNA now uses the cells in the body to produce chemicals that will prevent malaria from infecting the body,” Shu’aibu said.
This is however not the first vaccine to have been developed for malaria. Last year, the world’s first malaria vaccine received approval from European drugs regulators who recommended it should be licensed for use in babies in Africa who are at risk of the mosquito-borne disease.
The shot, called RTS,S or Mosquirix, was the first licensed human vaccine against a parasitic disease and could help prevent millions of cases of malaria in countries that use it.
The vaccine was developed by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in partnership with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative.
Andrew Witty, GSK’s chief executive, said EMA’s positive recommendation was a further important step towards making the world’s first malaria vaccine available for young children.
“While RTS,S on its own is not the complete answer to malaria, its use alongside those interventions currently available such as bed nets and insecticides would provide a very meaningful contribution to controlling the impact of malaria on children in those African communities that need it the most,” he said in a statement.
CALEB OJEWALE
