Scientists Closer to Developing a Shot Against Black Fever

Scientists are getting closer to developing a vaccine against kala azar (black fever) - a fatal parasitic infection transmitted by sandflies. Kala azar is the world's second biggest killer after malaria.

The black fever parasite migrates to organs such as liver, spleen and bone marrow and if left untreated will almost always be fatal.

Leishmaniasis (Kala-Azar) – Symptoms, Signs, Diagnosis, Treatment & Prevention
Leishmaniasis (Kala-azar) refers to the spectrum of infectious disease produced by species of the Leishmania parasite. The parasites spread by the bite of infected sand flies.

Symptoms of the disease, known as kala azar in India, include fever, weight loss, mucosal ulcers, fatigue, anaemia and substantial swelling of the liver and spleen.

Leishmaniasis affects 12 million people and there are an estimated 1.5 million new cases annually, mainly in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Brazil, the journal Nature Genetics reports.

Jenefer Blackwell, professor and head of genetics at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia co-authored the study which has uncovered a single major genetic risk factor for visceral leishmaniasis.

Successful Results Against Human Leishmaniasis With a More Efficient and Economic Vaccine: Research
A research has succeeded in testing a vaccine against leishmaniasis. It was coordinated by the UAB.

Scientists from India, Brazil, Britain, US and Australia, Blackwell identified variation in a specific region of the major immune response locus, known to immunologists as the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), as the single most important genetic risk factor for disease, according to an university statement.

The researchers compared genomes of 1,346 people suffering from disease in India and Brazil against those of 2702 healthy controls.

New Treatment Clues for Leishmaniasis from Sandfly Saliva
A new discovery by Brazilian scientists may lead to new breakthroughs, offering hope for millions of people who live under the constant threat of Leishmania infection.

The findings were confirmed in an independent cohort of 941 cases and 990 healthy controls (not suffering from black fever) from India.

Teams in Australia, Britain and the US are using the results to study the way the immune system interacts with the disease in mice.

North Texas Leishmaniasis Outbreak Identified by Dermatologists
Nine North Texas cases of an infectious skin disease common in South America, Mexico and in the Middle East, where it is sometimes referred to as a “Baghdad boil” has been identified

"Earlier genetic studies of visceral leishmaniasis in inbred mice allowed us to clearly demonstrate the importance of the MHC in regulating this disease," Blackwell said.

Source-IANS