Game Changing Vaccine Approach

(Posted by Rishab Nandan – 6.15.19)

A new vaccination method that can help ameliorate the massive infant mortality rate in poor, poverty stricken countries such as Guinea-Bissau is in the trial phase, and will (hopefully) soon be available for widespread use.

The lead researchers on this project, Peter Aaby and Christine Benn, have discovered that some live vaccines (consisting of living but weakened pathogens) can fight both their respective infections as well as other highly dangerous diseases. This is different from regular vaccines, where inactive pathogens are introduced to the body. For example, the live TB and Malaria vaccines each can potentially reduce risk of death by 50%, which is a much larger reduction in mortality than scientists had predicted, a discrepancy best explained by the live culture possibly treating multiple diseases alongside its target disease.

These “collateral help” vaccines are helpful not just in poor, developing countries, but also here in the USA, as when given live vaccines, infants born here are half as likely to contract other serious infections for which there are no direct vaccines.

Though this vaccination method is not 100% proven to prevent other diseases than its target infection, it is very compelling and supported by extensive research; The World Health Organization dubbed the potential benefits to be “Plausible and Common.”

The US needs to invest much more into this area of research, as it has the potential to become a game changing contribution to public health. In countries where infants are not named for their first year of life due to the high mortality rate, this vaccine can provide much needed protection from not just one high-risk disease, but multiple.

In addition, this multiple-kill vaccine can be a more economically viable option for dispensing – instead of an array of costly vaccines (vaccine prices are soaring, with pre filled syringes costing over $100), a single live vaccine can be used. Obviously this is not as effective as taking specific vaccines for specific diseases, however for the 44 million Americans living without health insurance, and the millions of families in developing countries who can barely afford to keep food on the table, this can provide a much cheaper substitute, After all, some protection is better than no protection.

References:

Moyer, Melinda Wenner. “Vaccines Reimagined .” The Scientific American , June 2019, pp. 56–61.

PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, http://www.pbs.org/healthcarecrisis/uninsured.html.

Rosenthal, Elisabeth. “The Price of Prevention: Vaccine Costs Are Soaring.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 3 July 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/03/health/Vaccine-Costs-Soaring-Paying-Till-It-Hurts.html.