According to the world health organization, cause 16% of deaths of children under 5 is pneumonia, in 2015, was recorded 920 000. If you take the total figure, the pneumococcus bacterium is the main causative agent of dangerous disease, killing about 2 million people a year. Of course, scientists have already created quite an effective vaccine against infection, but they act only on certain strains, of which a huge variety. Researchers from the Australian company GPN Vaccines claim to have created a vaccine that is effective against all kinds of deadly bacteria.
The head of the company James Paton explained that the most effective at the moment, the vaccine against pneumonia affects the complex carbohydrates that cover the outer part of the pneumococcus. The vaccine, which costs $ 100 per shot only covers 13 types of complex carbohydrates of the 98 available. Instead of increase the coverage, the company decided to go the other way and create a vaccine, acting on surface proteins that are common to all types of infection.
To create researchers from GPN Vaccines has teamed up with professors from the University of Adelaide. They have created a vaccine called Gamma-PN and represents a strain of pneumococcus that have been cultivated and have been inactivated under the influence of gamma rays. It has been tested on animals — indeed, they were able to avoid death from many types of bacteria.
Researchers have received additional funding and conducting toxicity tests of the vaccine. The company intends to increase the volume of clinical products, and then to conduct the first clinical trials on humans. The developers are confident that the new vaccine will not only protect people from dangerous diseases, but also will allow them to rely less on antibiotics, which may be needed with more serious diseases.
In 2017, scientists from Uganda have made equally important contribution to the fight against pneumonia. They created a jacket with an unusual title “Mother hope”, which helps to diagnose the disease.
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