Zika: The Plot Thickens! | Another Way
A report by Russia Today suggests that Indian biotech firm, Bharat Biotech International, rather conveniently have 2 possible vaccines to combat the Zika Virus: and guess who else pops up; Mister genetically modified Mosquito himself! Here’s a snippet from Bharat Biotech’s website.
Dr. Krishna Ella is the Chairman & Managing Director of Bharat Biotech International Limited.After early education in Agricultural Sciences, Dr. Ella studied at the University of Hawaii and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Following a brief stint as a research faculty at the Medical University of South Carolina-Charleston, he returned to India and set up Bharat Biotech International Limited, a multidimensional biotechnology company specializing in R&D, manufacturing and marketing of vaccines and biotherapeutics for human use. Today, Bharat Biotech is one of the leading innovative R&D Companies, with 45 global patents, of which 5 are for new molecules. Bharat Biotech has been funded (>300 crores) by various agencies like DBT, CSIR, DST and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Small world isn’t it!I’ve just looked at a piece The Daily Mail first published on 29th January, and updated the following day. They completely fail to even recognise the existence of Bharat Biotech International, let alone put it up as one of the forerunners.
Privately owned vaccine developer Hawaii Biotech Inc has joined the race to produce a vaccine for the mosquito-borne Zika virus, a fast-spreading infection which has been linked to severe birth defects in babies.The company initiated a formal program to test a Zika vaccine last fall, as the virus began to gain traction in Brazil, said Chief Executive Dr. Elliot Parks.‘Right now, we are in the pre-clinical stage, as I suspect everyone is,’ Parks, a former Johnson & Johnson executive, told Reuters in an interview late on Thursday.The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the Zika virus is ‘spreading explosively’ and could infect as many as 4 million people in the Americas. There is no proven vaccine or treatment.Although a direct causal relationship has not been established, a link is strongly suspected between Zika and thousands of children born in Brazil with abnormally small heads, brain defects and impaired vision.A close cousin of dengue and chikungunya, Zika causes mild fever and rash. But an estimated 80 percent of those infected suffer no symptoms, making it difficult for pregnant women to know whether they have been infected.‘We will have data coming through this year,’ Parks said. ‘When we enter the clinic is yet to be determined.’The United States has two potential candidates for a Zika vaccine and may begin clinical trials in people by the end of this year, but there will not be a widely available vaccine for several years, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
Great job guys!
The BBC appear to be doing all they can to ignore the whole thing, choosing instead to concentrate their efforts on things closer to home, such as rural councils not subsidising private bus companies anymore to run services that are only used by two people.USA Today mentioned Zika, but only because they were concerned that it could be transmitted sexually or through blood transfusions. In the case of catching the virus from tainted blood, yes I can see this to be of concern. But as far as worrying about catching it whilst having sex goes, I’m sure there are worse infections: HIV, hepatitis, gonarhea to name just a few!
Finally, I’ll leave you with this video of Dr Leonard Coldwell speaking frankly about vaccines.
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