27 July 2009
Nairobi — A group of 10 chirpy baboons on the outskirts of Nairobi may save the lives of 16,000 Kenyan children who die from malaria annually and 3.3 billion people at risk of contracting the disease in 109 countries worldwide.
The olive baboons, at the threshold of making history, have scientists at the Institute of Primate Research in Nairobi excited over a new malaria vaccine with tremendous promise.
Protection rose
"We are all excited about the vaccine which showed to offer a 94 per cent protection against malaria from a single dose," said Dr Thomas Kariuki, director IPS, deep in Ngong Forest within Karen in Nairobi.
For a double dose, the protection rose to 98 per cent, which was also found to be effective seven months later.
When Nation visited the primates on Monday, the animals were excited but certainly not because they understood the tremendous benefit they are about to confer to mankind, but from the way we were dressed -- in white lab coats and nose masks.
"From the mode of dressing, the baboons, whose genetic make-up is very close to man, can fear or like our mission -- whether it is to bleed, inject or feed them -- and will act accordingly," explained Dr Isack Mulei, a researcher.
White lab coats identify one as a researcher, and the first reaction is for the animals to get as far away as possible, just like human children react to a doctor's white coat.
Unknown to the baboons, their achievement was beamed across the world last week when the study carried out by IPR in conjunction with Johns Hopkins University, US, and the US Military Vaccine Programme was published.
Dr Kariuki, one of the top researchers in the initiative, yesterday told the Nation the vaccine has the potential of eradicating malaria.
"We have our fingers crossed that clinical trials will prove as good as animal tests in baboons and mice," said Dr Kariuki. The vaccine Pfs48/45 interferes with the reproductive process of the malaria causing parasite, blocking transmission.
"If all people in a malaria endemic area get this vaccine, the parasite would be eliminated from their bodies; a mosquito biting protected individuals would not pick any parasite for onward transmission."
For their contribution to science the research baboons are well treated. Before they are recruited, they have to be of good health and behaviour.
They are separated from other baboons and health checks done on them for three months prior to the study, with medical records for each being kept. For research programmes such a baboon costs about Sh45,000 to maintain.
They eat a balanced diet, including commercial pallets, fresh vegetable, a mango, an orange or banana, green maize, carrots and sweet potatoes.
In the malaria vaccine research, the baboons that were used were both juvenile and sub adult to help the scientists understand how the vaccine will react on children of human beings.
The young baboons were then isolated. But being playful and social especially with fellow young baboons, the scientists had to devise ways to ensure they were busy and stress-free.
Each was provided with a doll, ball, or any other things children use as play tools. The dolls were changed every week since the young baboons quickly get bored playing with the same toy after a week. Each time they become moody, the doll is changed.
So far, the only malaria vaccine advanced in human clinical trial, RTS,S is being tried in several countries including some going on in the malaria prone Kisumu Town in Nyanza Province.
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