measles Archives - The African Mirror

Sep

08

2021

Messenger RNA: how it works in nature and in making vaccines

HEALTH

VACCINES have long been an integral part of public health programmes around the world, reducing the spread and severity of infectious diseases. The success of immunisation strategies to protect children from diseases like polio, hepatitis B, and measles, and adults from influenza and pneumococcal disease, can be seen globally. KRISTIE BLOOM, Group Leader: Next-generation Vaccines, Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand The COVID-19 pandemic created an urgent need for an effective vaccine. This is where messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, which are classified as a next-generation technology, gained prominence. Decades of research and clinical development into synthetic mRNA…

Solar technologies can speed up vaccine rollout in Africa. Here’s how

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

THER'S hope that some industrialised countries will achieve near-universal vaccination against COVID-19 in the coming months. Yet the effort to vaccinate even the most essential workers in developing countries has only just begun. By current estimates, achieving herd immunity (to current strains) will require at least 75% of the world’s population to be vaccinated. Some developing countries haven’t reached that level of coverage even for common vaccine-preventable diseases like measles and polio. CYRUS SINAI, PhD student, Department of Geography, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ROB FETTER, Senior Policy Associate, Energy Access Project, Duke University Many low-income countries will…

Congo says world’s largest measles epidemic is over

NEWS

THE Democratic Republic of Congo has announced that it has ended the world's largest measles outbreak that has killed more than 7,000 children since it was declared 14 months ago. Congo's response to the epidemic was hobbled by a health service suffering from decades of underfunding, mismanagement and war, but was also overshadowed by an Ebola outbreak in the east of the country. Health experts say the actual measles death toll could be far higher because many cases go unreported in a country with such poor health infrastructure. "After several strategies mounted at the ministry level, we have just put…