Successfully tested Amip parasitic vaccine

Canadian scientists have tested on mice the first vaccine against Amoeba, the intestinal parasite that causes disease in 10% of the world's population and kills 100,000 people each year. The newly tested vaccine is seen as opening hope for the lives of millions of children in developing countries.

According to Dr. Kris Chadee, the lead researcher, the Amoeba vaccine, ie Amoeba (scientific name Entamoeba histolytica), is a great breakthrough, because there is currently "no vaccine available to against this parasite '.

100% effective

If funded, the research team will clinically test the vaccine for humans within five years.Photo: A patient with liver abscess due to Amoeba (Photo: medinfo.ufl.edu)

The team used a protein on the surface of Amoeba to make the vaccine. This protein works to stimulate the immune system. Mr. Chadee said: 'We have successfully tested this vaccine on a first animal.'

Vaccines are used by spraying into the nose - a new, non-invasive and effective method. This vaccine works to strengthen the body's immune system to fight amoeba parasites.

Dr. Chadee and colleagues at the University of Calgary tested the vaccine on gerbils. The results show that the vaccine is 100% effective in preventing amoeba from attacking the intestine and other organs.

In one report, the team said that all mice that were prevented with this vaccine maintained a healthy condition, unaffected by amoeba, while mice were not protected by vaccines. Please be absent.

Entamoeba histolytica belongs to a single-celled protozoan group, and is the only parasite in this group that causes illness in humans, when saying ' Amip infection ' is a disease caused by this parasite. They cause disease in the intestine, liver and lungs.

"When amoeba invades the intestines, they weaken the immune system, causing bloody diarrhea, causing dehydration and in some cases, dangerous liver abscesses," said Chadee. .

According to Chadee, Entamoeba histolytica spreads through faeces, water and contaminated food. This type of amoeba is found in most developing countries, especially in Mexico, Bangladesh, India and countries in South Africa. It also traveled to both North America and Europe through hostels and immigrants.

Need funding for human trials

He said: 'Many children are infected with amoeba and are dying every year, while Flagel treatment of this disease is both expensive and difficult to tolerate in most patients.'

Entamoeba histolytica parasites cause disease in the intestine, liver and lungs.(Photo: Umanitoba.ca)

Chadee said the next step was to test the vaccine on a primitive animal. If funded by pharmaceutical companies or an organization, 'we can perform clinical trials on humans within 5 years'.

As a professor of microbiology and infectious diseases, Mr. Chadee hopes that this first vaccine, once successfully developed, will be provided to children and the poor in developing countries. , as well as in areas with the highest risk of amoeba infection.

But according to him, 'it is difficult to do that, because the pharmaceutical industry in North America and Europe is not easy to pursue that goal, unless it is profitable. for them '.

Mr. Chadee hopes to have the support of some charity to successfully develop this vaccine - a potential vaccine to protect human health.

Quang Thinh