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Cuba Develops Pertussis and Cholera Vaccines

CUBA, June 30, 2010.- The Cuban National Center of Scientific Research (CNIC) is developing two important vaccines to fight pertussis (whooping cough) and cholera, respectively, two diseases that cause the death of thousands of people in the poorest countries around the world every year. The news was announced at the 15th International Scientific Conference CNIC 2010, taking place at Havana’s Convention

The Cuban National Center of Scientific Research (CNIC) is developing two important vaccines to fight pertussis (whooping cough) and cholera, respectively, two diseases that cause the death of thousands of people in the poorest countries around the world every year.

The head of the CNIC’s Biotechnology Department, Rafael Fando, explained that the pertussis vaccine is an acellular vaccine, which will allow immunizing adolescents and adults. The common vaccine used to fight pertussis only protected children, leaving the rest of the population exposed to the bacterium.

The cholera vaccine is being developed in its two strains. Cholera affects the poorest people of countries that have no access to this product due to the high prices imposed by multinationals. Another CNIC scientific advance presented in the conference was a diagnostic method to detect the Helicobacter pylori bacterium from a blood test. The Helicobacter pylori is the main cause of most of the gastric and duodenal ulcers, and is also related to the distal gastric cancer, which up until now could only be diagnosed with an endoscopy.

The head of the CNIC’s Microbiology and Immunology Department, Dr. Boris Luis Rodríguez, explained that this method consists on detecting the antibodies produced when the body is infested with this bacterium.

The diagnostic method developed in CNIC is not unique in the world, but it is much less expensive than the others. In Cuba more than 75% of the population is estimated to be infested with Helicobacter pylori, and almost a million people suffer from gastric-duodenal diseases. An accurate diagnosis of the bacterium would allow a better treatment. (Cubaminrex-Juventud Rebelde)