
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 13, 1994                   TAG: 9402130089
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

SCIENTISTS MAY BE CLOSE TO MALARIA IMMUNIZATIONS

Scientists think they're on the brink of a successful malaria vaccine that could lead to global immunizations by 1998, but threatened budget cuts jeopardize the work.

New research shows a drug called SPf66 probably is the vaccine breakthrough scientists have been seeking. It is undergoing a final test to see whether it protects hundreds of children in Tanzania, who get bitten some 20 times a day by malaria-carrying mosquitos.

"We are hot on the right trail," Dr. D.A. Henderson, a renowned vaccine expert and assistant U.S. health secretary, said Friday.

But the United States, a major backer of malaria research, probably will cut some of that money this year, leading to fears that other countries will follow suit.

Malaria strikes between 300 million and 500 million people a year, with children the most vulnerable. In Africa alone, 1 million children die annually from the disease.

Malaria larvae enter the body through mosquito bites, "swim" to the liver and incubate. Then the mature parasite re-enters the bloodstream and multiplies while leaching vital hemoglobin and iron from red blood cells.

Doctors now fight malaria with insecticides and a small arsenal of drugs, well known to U.S. travelers. But people who live in malaria-ridden countries can't take medicine constantly, and the parasite is rapidly developing resistance to all known drugs.

by CNB