30 million yr old disease meets a Vaccine
Eradicating Malaria: The Vaccine Revolution
A few years ago, the government of India faced a serious problem: Around 5 million children under the age of five were dying. Most of these deaths could be prevented by vaccination. But awareness about vaccines was low amongst parents in India. Even if a parent did bring their child to the doctor, they often got them there for just one dose of the vaccine (and they felt that was enough!). However, some diseases needed more than one dose. Half-baked measures wouldn’t prevent the disease at all.
How was the Indian government to resolve this problem of part-vaccine doses? An advertising agency called JWT came up with a brilliant creative solution. They used children’s toys to solve this problem.
First, they developed a range of toys (wooden elephants, sparrows and rocking horses) which was made in parts. If a child had to be given a vaccine in two doses, the doctor would administer the first dose of the vaccine to the child and hand over one half of the toy (e.g. half an elephant!). The doctor would tell the mother and the child that they would get the other half when they came back after 3 months for the second dose. This half-toy served as a powerful reminder to the family throughout the next three months. The vaccination completion levels rose in India!
This week’s story on ‘The Lighter Side’ is about a vaccine against malaria that was introduced in Africa. Malaria has lived on earth for several million years. Africa has borne the brunt of the diseases caused by this parasite. But after decades of effort, there may be a silver lining to this story.
Tell me more about this 30 million year old parasite
It’s called malaria. It was first given its name ‘malaria’ about 130 years ago. It is one of the leading causes of death in children under the age of five, in the African continent. There has never been a vaccine against this. Until 2021. The World Health Organisation approved the first ever vaccine against malaria three years ago. A second vaccine was approved last year.
The COVID vaccine was developed in less than two years. Modern science has known about malaria for 130 years. Why was no vaccine developed before this?
Three words - lack of money.
The COVID vaccine was a problem for the rich countries. They were keen on putting the quarantines to an end and get out of their homes as quickly as they could. The malarial parasite, on the other hand, was a major headache in African countries (and to a smaller extent in Asian countries). None of the African countries had the money to get the scientific research for a malarial vaccine underway.
While on this point, it is also moot to note that there has been only one tuberculosis (TB) vaccine in the last 100 years. The entire world is not burdened equally when it comes to diseases. Developing countries (those in Africa and South Asia) have more cases of TB and malaria, as compared to the richer countries.
Here is a researcher from Christian Medical College in Vellore (India) speaking about this
"TB is a disease of the poor, and malaria is a disease that affects the poor parts of the world. Investing in a vaccine for the poor makes no sense because companies intend to make obscene profits," said Gagandeep Kang, a virologist and professor at the department of gastrointestinal sciences at the Christian Medical College in Vellore.
The pathogen (germ) is also different
What does a vaccine do? It helps the body produce antibodies (armies of soldiers that can fight infections). The COVID vaccine was less complex (thankfully!) and a vaccine could be developed faster. Vaccines for viruses are simpler because all we need to do is to stop the virus from entering the cells. We can do that by targeting a few proteins on the surface of the cell and abort their efforts.
The malarial and the TB causing parasites are both far more complex. They can evade and persist inside the human bodies with far greater ease than the COVID virus can. They also have a complex life cycle and not enough scientists have spent time to understand how the malarial or the TB parasite works.
This is another reason why it has taken much longer to develop vaccines that can successfully fight against these diseases.
It has taken 100 years of research and clinical trials to develop a vaccine against TB.
It has taken 130 years of research to develop a vaccine against malaria.
What now? How is Africa faring after the malarial vaccine?
In a country like Burkina Faso in West Africa, almost everyone gets malaria (!!!) In 2023, half the population (out of 20-some million) got sick. One of the country’s researchers Halidou Tinto was one of those afflicted. His 6-year old twins also fell ill. Anytime a child in Africa complains of a fever or headache, it has become standard protocol to treat them for malaria. That’s what Halidou Tinto did and that’s how his kids got better. But now, a vaccine has come along.
Cameroon, Burkina Faso and the Central African Republic are amongst the first few countries to get plane-loads of vaccines. The Serum Institute of India, who will be manufacturing the new vaccine, says a hundred million doses will be available by the middle of next year. But vaccination still faces two challenges:
a) Bed nets (the kinds that prevent you from being bitten by a mosquito when you sleep at night) will also need to be used. Vaccinations alone won’t eradicate malaria.
b) Booster doses of the malarial vaccine (more than one dose) will need to be administered to give continued protection to children (every 12-18 months).
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Podcast this week
Exactly 1 year ago, India’s Chandrayaan-3 landed on the moon. Remember the goosebumps we all had while we watched the Vikram rover touchdown on the moon? The scientists in ISRO’s control room wept with joy, whole communities in India burst firecrackers and it was Diwali all over :)
India’s space story had a beginning that could not be more different. It all started with a young man who went to the UK to pursue a degree in Physics. But the Second World War broke out and he had to come back to India to finish his studies. He felt India had a lot to gain if it invested in space technology. Farmers could grow more food, children could get better education and homes would have good quality entertainment. This visionary scientist pushed hard for India to launch rockets. He assembled a young motley crowd of science-enthusiasts. One such young man was from a fisherman’s family in Rameswaram (he would be later known as India’s rocket-President - Dr. Kalam). While these scientists started work, all they had was a beautiful little beach town, a few modest hutments / sheds and the sweltering heat of South India’s summer. Listen to this episode capturing stories from the early days of India’s space race.
Fun listens
Hagrid vs Dumbledore: Who would you rather hang out with?