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The most effective malaria vaccine yet discovered

blogs.sciencemag.org

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Re: The most effective malaria vaccine yet discovered

#31

Post by eloff »

reddog wrote: post #29
soperj wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>That's an ongoing pandemic that makes covid-19 look like a case of the sniffles How? There are literally 3 times more deaths in the last year than peak Malaria, and that's only deaths that were actually counted.

Because malaria has been killing people consistently for thousands of years? You can easily add Tuberculosis to the makes-covid-look-like-sniffles list as well. Over the last 200 years 1 billion people have died of TB. https://www.nature.com/articles/502S2a

Yes. Add HIV to that list as well. Polio, which is almost gone now. It's a long list.

Re: The most effective malaria vaccine yet discovered

#32

Post by MongooseMan »

soperj wrote: post #22
eloff wrote: post #5

What blows me away is in a study group of 734 infants, which benefited from maternal antibodies against malaria, 717 were infected by malaria in the first year of their life. That's nearly 100%, in the first year since birth. That's devastating. The vaccine is showing 77% efficacy in trials in Burkina Faso. That's an ongoing pandemic that makes covid-19 look like a case of the sniffles. Malaria deaths peaked around 9…

>That's an ongoing pandemic that makes covid-19 look like a case of the sniffles How? There are literally 3 times more deaths in the last year than peak Malaria, and that's only deaths that were actually counted.

Comparing the deaths side by side misses an important aspect: most malaria deaths are children, whereas Covid mostly affects older age groups.

Re: The most effective malaria vaccine yet discovered

#33

Post by andi999 »

rossdavidh wrote: post #23
hintymad wrote: post #20

Isn't Malaria caused by parasites? So vaccine is not just for virus?

The parasites are single-celled microorganisms. Generally speaking, anything your immune system can fight, you might theoretically be able to make a vaccine for. Emphasis on "might", of course.

What is the difference to bacteria? (or is it a bacterium?)

Re: The most effective malaria vaccine yet discovered

#34

Post by throwaway5752 »

reddog wrote: post #29
soperj wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>That's an ongoing pandemic that makes covid-19 look like a case of the sniffles How? There are literally 3 times more deaths in the last year than peak Malaria, and that's only deaths that were actually counted.

Because malaria has been killing people consistently for thousands of years? You can easily add Tuberculosis to the makes-covid-look-like-sniffles list as well. Over the last 200 years 1 billion people have died of TB. https://www.nature.com/articles/502S2a

It's incorrect to say it looks like sniffles in comparison. This is basically severity / priority in software. If we left sars-covid-19 without mitigation for a century, it would catch up rapidly. You compare things over relevant intervals.

There are far more influenza deaths over the last 3 decades than ebola, but ebola is far more severe and greater concern.

Re: The most effective malaria vaccine yet discovered

#35

Post by soperj »

reddog wrote: post #29
soperj wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>That's an ongoing pandemic that makes covid-19 look like a case of the sniffles How? There are literally 3 times more deaths in the last year than peak Malaria, and that's only deaths that were actually counted.

Because malaria has been killing people consistently for thousands of years? You can easily add Tuberculosis to the makes-covid-look-like-sniffles list as well. Over the last 200 years 1 billion people have died of TB. https://www.nature.com/articles/502S2a

So somehow it being around longer makes the more lethal disease the sniffles? That doesn't make sense.

Re: The most effective malaria vaccine yet discovered

#36

Post by eloff »

soperj wrote: post #22
eloff wrote: post #5

What blows me away is in a study group of 734 infants, which benefited from maternal antibodies against malaria, 717 were infected by malaria in the first year of their life. That's nearly 100%, in the first year since birth. That's devastating. The vaccine is showing 77% efficacy in trials in Burkina Faso. That's an ongoing pandemic that makes covid-19 look like a case of the sniffles. Malaria deaths peaked around 9…

>That's an ongoing pandemic that makes covid-19 look like a case of the sniffles How? There are literally 3 times more deaths in the last year than peak Malaria, and that's only deaths that were actually counted.

Yes, but over the course of history, there's no comparison. Which was my point.

Covid-19 is hopefully going to be short-lived thanks to the vaccines, but even if it weren't for that it would likely become more virulent but less deadly over time like the other Coronaviruses that are endemic in humans.

There is a also a big difference in lives lost at the end of life versus at the beginning.

Re: The most effective malaria vaccine yet discovered

#37

Post by smaddox »

stephenhuey wrote: post #24
hintymad wrote: post #20

Isn't Malaria caused by parasites? So vaccine is not just for virus?

Malaria is caused by protists which are spread by Anopheles mosquitoes. So it’s not a virus.

I somehow had never seen/heard the word protist before (biology is obviously not my specialization). Thank you for that.

Re: The most effective malaria vaccine yet discovered

#38

Post by soperj »

MongooseMan wrote: post #32
soperj wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>That's an ongoing pandemic that makes covid-19 look like a case of the sniffles How? There are literally 3 times more deaths in the last year than peak Malaria, and that's only deaths that were actually counted.

Comparing the deaths side by side misses an important aspect: most malaria deaths are children, whereas Covid mostly affects older age groups.

Because old people are worth less than children?

Re: The most effective malaria vaccine yet discovered

#39

Post by soperj »

eloff wrote: post #36
soperj wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>That's an ongoing pandemic that makes covid-19 look like a case of the sniffles How? There are literally 3 times more deaths in the last year than peak Malaria, and that's only deaths that were actually counted.

Yes, but over the course of history, there's no comparison. Which was my point. Covid-19 is hopefully going to be short-lived thanks to the vaccines, but even if it weren't for that it would likely become more virulent but less deadly over time like the other Coronaviruses that are endemic in humans. There is a also a big difference in lives lost at the end of life versus at the beginning.

>Covid-19 is hopefully going to be short-lived thanks to the vaccines, but even if it weren't for that it would likely become more virulent but less deadly over time like the other Coronaviruses that are endemic in humans.

Over the last year it's be come more virulent and more deadly.

We have no idea how well the vaccines are going to work. We have a situation right now where a country(india) with 100 million people vaccinated is getting 350,000 cases a day, and it's doubling every 10 days. That's a scenario where the evolution around the protection a vaccine offers becomes a very real and distinct possibility.

Re: The most effective malaria vaccine yet discovered

#40

Post by fastball »

soperj wrote: post #38
MongooseMan wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Comparing the deaths side by side misses an important aspect: most malaria deaths are children, whereas Covid mostly affects older age groups.

Because old people are worth less than children?

Yes but not in the way you're implying.

A child dying robs them and the world of 60+ years of human life. An 80 year old dying of COVID-19 was not going to live much longer anyway, so the loss is less severe. Old people have already had the opportunity to live a "full" life.

Imagine two societies – one where a disease kills 50% of 70s every year. Which society would do better? Which society would you rather live in?

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