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$200,000 grant boosts tapeworm vaccine research
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Researchers from the University of Melbourne received a $200,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to investigate a vaccine that protects against Taenia solium, according to a press release.
The T. solium parasite is transmitted to humans through pigs and causes neurocysticercosis, or brain cysts, in human hosts. T. solium is responsible for approximately 50,000 deaths annually, mostly in developing countries where hygiene standards are lax and unregulated, the release said. In addition, the parasite is the most frequent cause of seizure disorders in endemic regions across Africa, China, Central and South American and Southeast Asia, accounting for 29% of epilepsy cases.
Marshall Lightowlers
“We hope to change that,” Marshall Lightowlers, BSc, PhD, lead investigator and professor at the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, said in the release. “This grant will go a long way to helping us develop a one-shot vaccine that will break the lifecycle of this harmful parasite.”
The vaccine already exists for use in pigs. It is expected to be commercially available in 2016, the release said. The investigators will use the grant to administer two rounds of immunization, a difficult task in countries where pigs roam free with little monitoring.