Hey guys, so our topic was on the fight against malaria, can we develop a vaccine? How many of you guys do Chem? Okay good, like Xavier I enjoy a good pun. So I put this in for giggles.
We decided to apply a different approach to our presentation, almost a role play. So to set the scene, I’ll give you a bit of background on Malaria.
Firstly, a vaccine is a product of or an antigenic component of an organism which produces protective immunity but does not in itself cause the disease. This differs from an anti-malaria drug as it aims to prevent the disease rather than treat it. Malaria is a disease that currently has no vaccine. It is caused by a parasite of the genus Paramecium, of which there are five different organisms. It is spread by female Anopheles mosquitoes. Current endemic counties include sub Sahara Africa, South East Asia and Latin America. Symptoms include flu like symptoms such as head and body aches, fever and diarrhoea and in severe cases, death. Malaria kills an estimated 2000 people per day, or a child under five year every minute.
Each year the experts meet at the World Health Organisation’s annual Malaria Vaccine Advisory Committee (MALVAC) to discuss appropriate malaria policies and initiatives, and major issues and advances in developing a vaccine. One of WHO’s millennium development goals includes to have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.
Today, at MALVAC, we will be discussing how