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No one had developed an anti-parasite vaccine until three years ago; There are now two anti-malaria vaccines available, namely RTS-S and R21. Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford and lead researcher on the R21 vaccine, said this is a big and important time for malaria control.
Malaria has existed for about three million years. There were no humans then. Malaria is neither a virus nor a bacteria. It is a protozoan (primitive) parasite, which is thousands of times larger than a normal virus. It is considered better than gin. For example, the COVID-19 virus has about 12 genes, compared to the 5,000 genes found in malaria. Furthermore, the malaria parasite goes through four life cycles. With infectious pathogens it takes a more severe form. Medical researchers have been attempting to develop a malaria vaccine for more than 100 years. It took 30 years of research at Oxford.
How R21/Matrix-M Vaccine works
The four life cycles of malaria are very different and require different antigens to fight them. An antigen is a substance that activates our body's immune system to produce antibodies. We looked at sporozoites (a form of cell) that mosquitoes release into humans through skin bites, Hill said. We set out to detect these cells before they reach the liver. These cells grow faster and live longer.
What is the pace of vaccination?
Hill is disappointed that it has taken more than six months for the R21 vaccine to be approved in October last year. Lakhs of doses of R21 are stored in India. In comparison, the Oxford and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines were approved on New Year's Eve in 2020 and were being rapidly used in many countries the following week. The first anti-malaria vaccine, RTS-S, has already gone through several safety trials on millions of children and its use is indeed very high, so mass vaccination can be carried out in Africa, because more people die from malaria in Africa. Have done. From Covid-19.