Kala Azar
- India and the US have jointly started human trials of a new and powerful vaccine against kala azar.
- The LEISH-F3 + GLA-SE vaccine will be tested on healthy Indian adults in collaboration with the Banaras Hindu University later this year. The vaccine is a highly purified, recombinant and incorporates two fused parasite proteins and a powerful adjuvant to stimulate an immune response.
What is Kala azar?
- Also known as black fever- The infection causes visceral leishmaniasis that attacks liver and spleen, causing irregular bouts of fever and substantial weight loss. Kala azar tends to recur after every 15 years.
Is it fatal?
- The disease is the second-largest parasitic killer in the world (after malaria), responsible for an estimated 500,000 cases each year worldwide. In developing countries, where patients generally have poor nutrition and compromised immune function, it is 100% fatal without treatment.
Endemic areas in India:
- Kala azar is endemic in 48 dists in Bihar, Jharkhand, UP, W Bengal. About 65.4 million people are at risk in these four states WHO's deadline to eliminate kalazar from Southeast Asia expires in 2016. Kala azar tends to recur after every 15 years.
WHO deadline:
- WHO's deadline to eliminate kalazar from Southeast Asia expires in 2016
- India missed the National Health Policy target to eliminate kala azar by 2010, and has now set a new target to eliminate or reduce the number of cases to one per 10,000 people by 2015.
- Elimination means reducing number of cases to one per 10,000 people
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