Healthful Habits

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Ghana sets milestone as first country to authorize new malaria vaccine
The WHO has yet to recommend it, but some countries are already starting to use it.
Ghana has become the first country to approve an effective malaria vaccine developed by the Oxford University in the UK. The R21/Matrix-M vaccine, the first one to exceed the World Health Organization’s target of 75% efficacy, has been authorized for use in children aged 5-36 months, the group at the highest risk of death from the disease.
The country’s Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) analyzed the final trial data on the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness, which isn’t yet public, and decided to use it. The WHO has yet to recommend the widespread use of the R21 vaccine, and until it does there’s a question mark over the amount of international funding available for its rollout.

“The WHO can provide support, but it is not an approving institution. The FDA has the mandate as a regulator, and that is what we have done,” Delese Darko, CEO of Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority told Reuters. The vaccine rollout will be organized by the country’s health service, its malaria program and the immunization body, he added.

A very challenging disease
Plasmodium, a parasite transmitted through mosquito bites, is the root cause of malaria in humans. Among the five species capable of causing malaria, two pose the greatest threat. Symptoms typically manifest 15 days post-bite, and without prompt treatment, the illness can progress to a severe state and, in some cases, prove fatal.

It’s both a preventable and treatable disease. Over 90% of all the cases and deaths are concentrated in Africa, according to the WHO. In recent years, countries have made progress using new tools such as insecticide-treated mosquito nets. A recent study found a natural treatment that could make people almost invisible to mosquitoes.

Last year, the WHO endorsed Mosquirix, the first malaria vaccine developed by the pharmaceutical company GSK, after decades of work. However, due to insufficient funding, GSK was unable to produce the required number of doses. Studies have shown that the vaccine’s effectiveness is around 60% and decreases over time.

Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi participated in the pilot program for the rollout of Mosquirix and have since started distributing it more widely, with 1.2 million children having received at least one dose across the three countries since 2019. Child mortality from all causes has decreased by 10% in the areas where the vaccine was administered.

Oxford’s R21 vaccine showed 80% effectiveness in preventing malaria in a study published last year, meeting the WHO’s goal of 75% efficacy for the first time. Further data from a continuing phase III clinical trial involving 4,800 children in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali, and Tanzania are due to be published in a journal in the next few months.

Oxford scientist Adrian Hill told BBC that R21 will “make a major impact on malaria mortality in the coming years,” contributing in the longer term to the goal of malaria eradication. This is the first time a major vaccine has been approved by an African country before rich nations, Hill said, with African regulators “taking a more proactive stance.”

The Serum Institute of India, with which Oxford has signed an agreement, is now getting ready to produce up to 200 million doses per year, with a vaccine factory being built in Accra, Ghana. Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of the institute, told BBC that Ghana represents a “significant milestone” in the efforts to tackle malaria around the world.

Could these old mummies in Mexico be spreading fungal infection due to an old tax rule?
There's not much evidence and speculation is running wild.
Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) has just made a spine-tingling discovery – the famous traveling exhibit, The Mummies of Guanajuato, may pose a risk of fungal infections to visitors.

INAH experts have found visible fungal growth inside a glass case holding one of the mummies, prompting the institute to issue a warning. The mummies were on display at a tourism expo in Mexico City when the warning was released, adding to the urgency of the situation.

While the intrigue of these ancient corpses is undeniable, it’s crucial to heed the warning and take necessary precautions to avoid any potential health hazards.
“From some of the published photos, at least one of the corpses on display, which was inspected by the institute in November 2021, shows signs of a proliferation of possible fungus colonies. It is even more worrisome that they are still being exhibited without the safeguards for the public against biohazards,” INAH experts told AP News.

The mummies are over 200 years old and usually, these can be viewed at the Museum of the Mummies of Guanajuato (Museo de las Momias de Guanajuato).

However, from time to time they are also exhibited in different places outside Mexico. For instance, in 2009, they were put on display in the US. The INAH experts noticed signs of fungal growth for the first time inside the mummy cases in 2021.

Interestingly, the fungal threat from these mummies is actually a by-product of a burial tax that was imposed on the Mexican people during the 1860s.

How did the burial tax make the mummies a source of fungal infection?
The INAH team suggests that the fact that fungi are able to grow within the cases may be related to their imperfect airtightness. However, another plausible explanation that is also supported by historical data is that these dead bodies were not embalmed during the burial process.

A report from National Geographic reveals that in 1861 a new burial tax was levied on the masses as a fee to the cemeteries for keeping the bodies of their loved ones.

The cemetery workers used to dig out the dead bodies for which no taxes were paid and put them inside burial chambers in dry soil like mummies. Although the warm and dry environment kept the corpses preserved, since the cemetery workers were not aware of the ancient embalming process, the bodies were not properly mummified leaving scope for various microorganisms like fungi to grow at the onset of favorable conditions.

When the burial chambers were opened, many of the mummies had clothing, skin, hair, and various other body parts intact. It is possible that during the time they were placed in glass cases, some body parts came in contact with fungal spores. However, imperfect airtightness in some cases could’ve also made the mummies susceptible to fungal infection at times they were transported to other countries for exhibitions.

Mummies spreading fungal infection in humans
No cases of fungal infection in humans from the Guanajuato mummies have been reported so far, but authorities are on the lookout. The INAH team has warned that these mummies pose a risk to human health and that they should be examined for safety. If the mummy cases are really not airtight, the visitors might catch fungal infections from the bodies on display.

The INAH team said, “This should all be carefully studied to see if these are signs of a risk for the cultural legacy, as well as for those who handle them and come to see them.”

The concern of INAH experts seems valid because in the past also, people have lost their lives soon after coming in contact with mummies that were probably carrying deadly fungal infections. For instance, in 1970, a team of 12 researchers opened the tomb of King Casimir IV who ruled Poland between the years 1447 and 1492. Surprisingly, within a few weeks, 10 out of the 12 researchers died.

For now, it’s just a precaution, but authorities strongly want to check the Guanajuato mummies for any such infections.

Brain MRIs just got a thousand times sharper
Although the technology was only demonstrated on mice, researchers think it can also work on humans.
“It is something that is truly enabling. We can start looking at neurodegenerative diseases in an entirely different way,” said G. Allan Johnson, the lead author of the new paper.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become the ‘workhorse’ of brain imaging, and it’s useful for detecting internal health problems such as bleeding, swelling, tumors, infections, and many other types of damage. In the 50 years since it was invented, the resolution of MRI has been steadily improving, but there’s still plenty of room for progress.

Johnson is part of a group of researchers from several universities that, for decades, has embraced the challenge of improving MRI resolution. They improved and refined the elements that make up MRI machines and in their new breakthrough, they achieved a “resolution which is ~ 1,000 times higher than that of most preclinical MRI”.

MRI works through a mixture of magnets and radio waves. When a patient is placed in the MRI machine, their body is exposed to a strong magnetic field. This causes the protons in the hydrogen atoms within the body to align with the direction of the magnetic field.

Then, a radio frequency pulse is then applied to the patient, which causes the protons to absorb energy and flip their alignment. When the radio frequency pulse is turned off, the protons return to their original alignment and release the energy they absorbed in the form of radio waves.

These radio waves are detected by the MRI machine’s receiver coils and processed by a computer to produce a detailed image of the internal body structure being examined. You can also change the parameters of the magnets and the radio waves to image different types of tissues and different depths.