Researchers at the Malaghan Institute (Wellington) have made a discovery which could hasten the development of a vaccine for hookworm.
The parasite affects an estimated 1 billion people, and is a leading cause of deaths of mothers and children in developing countries.
An excerpt: (read in full here)
“Prof Le Gros said current controls for hookworm required frequent drenching with antihelminthic drugs in school-age children, but high rates of re-infection occurred soon after treatment and there was evidence of emerging drug resistance.
“”Vaccination is currently viewed as the only long-term solution for reducing the enormous burden this disease imposes on developing countries,” Prof Le Gros said.
“The hookworm which affects humans is not found in New Zealand.
…
“”Our findings imply that for a vaccine to be effective it must target the immune cells resident in the lung and stimulate a specific kind of immune response that we have not yet discovered,” Prof Le Gros said.