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Help fight malaria by contracting it
The Seattle Biomedical Research Institute's works on its malarial vaccines by removing genes responsible for infection.
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TEXT OF STORY
Renita Jablonski: A million people worldwide die from Malaria every year. More organizations are collecting money for things like mosquito nets to help protect people in parts of Africa and Asia from the disease.
In Seattle, some people are deciding to get the disease themselves in an effort to help.
Would you do the same for about $2,000 or so? Oregon Public Broadcasting's Ethan Lindsey has more on a lab with some unusual testing methods.
Ethan Lindsey Think of this place as a "malaria hotel." But instead of paying a nightly rate, guests will get compensated several thousand dollars for their stays. That's because these accommodations will include mosquitoes infected with malaria.
Dr. Patrick Duffy: We put the mosquitoes into a small ice cream container -- just put that next to somebody's skin and the mosquitoes will feed on their skin.
Doctor Patrick Duffy could be considered the innkeeper. His actual job title is the Director of the Malaria Program at the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute. It's one of the world's top malaria research centers. That's in large part due to the Gates Foundation. They've donated $350 million to the development of a malaria vaccine.
Malaria can causes flu-like symptoms and is often deadly. Duffy says a vaccine is now possible, and would save millions of lives.
Duffy: The reason people that people are interested in this is their awareness of the suffering. And to be presented in our community, Seattle, where we don't have any malaria, with the opportunity to do something, I think that that inspires people.
He says he thinks some volunteers are interested in a quick, though not necessarily painless, thousand-dollar payday. The lab will give subjects a trial vaccine, and then infect them with malaria. Duffy says for a week, people can go to work, ride the bus, sleep next to their spouses. Then, they get put up in the hotel.
If the vaccine doesn't work, they'll be given a drug that will cure them. Duffy says his lab has gone the extra mile to ensure safety.
But despite the safeguards, volunteers shouldn't think it's just another way to make a buck. Or so says Buddy Ullman, a malaria researcher at Oregon Health and Sciences University:
Buddy Ullman: People are getting paid a lot of money to get exposed to the malarial parasite, and some of these people will get sick. The listeners do not want to acquire falciparum malaria, that's not a fun disease.
Seattle Biomedical Research Institute says it hopes to begin formal trials by next year. Interested? It's still accepting volunteer applications.
In Seattle, I'm Ethan Lindsey for Marketplace.
Two thousand bucks, eh? Interesting, they (NHI, Florida University and Robert Zimmerman) did the same here in Brazil, but paying only US$5 to each volunteer. Turns out that it is illegal in Brazil and the research was cancelled after a while...I guess they will have to bear with the extra costs of hiring guinea pigs from the developed world now.
As a missionary kid in Zaire I contracted malaria on several occasions. I wonder what would happen if I would have the institute infect me some 30 years later. At one point I was told that I could not donate blood or body organs due to having contracted malaria in the 1970s.
To all --
This is Ethan Lindsey, the reporter for the story, and I thank you all for your comments and correction on my story. Previous commenter 'Philip DiMauro' is correct -- I won't make this mistake again. I appreciate the feedback!
Ethan Lindsey, please check your term "virus"when applied to Malaria. Further information at:http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/biology/index.htm
Best regards, Fran F.
I was taken aback when Mr. Lindsey referred to the malaria parasite as a virus. Although I understand that many people may not appreciate the difference, I feel that this basic fact of the disease should have been reported accurately. One of the reasons the development of a malarial vaccine has been extremely difficult is because it is not a virus but a parasite with a very complex multi-stage life cycle. I enjoy the programming on NPR, and expect a higher standard than the mass media news programs. I do look forward to hearing an update on this very interesting clinical approach in the future.
Michael Schmiederer
Dear Marketplace,
I listen to your program on NPR frequently on my way to school in the morning. I was very dissapointed with this morning's report by Ethan Lindsey however. I teach high school biology and stress to my students the importance of getting good information. I usually try to steer them away from some of the local news which is rife with errors and even suggest NPR as a good, reliable source of information. I almost had an aneurism in my car when I heard Mr. Lindsey call malaria a virus. It is a protist or even if you want to keep it simple, a pathogen. It is not a virus and the medical implications in that distinction are great. Please, especially in a science or medical story, check your facts on such an assumption. Thank you for your continued excellence in programming.
Sincerely,
Rob Zimmerman
