13 Still, it’s no silver bullet. Malaria has been a major problem for decades, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, but also in parts of Asia and Latin America. Each year, an estimated 263 million people are infected, and about 600,000 die from the disease – mostly young children. Research into combating malaria has been ongoing for decades. “One reason it takes so long is that a parasite is much harder to combat than a virus”, says Dechering, returning to the question that sparked his fascination years ago. “The parasite hides inside the body and can adapt to its host. For example, in humans it lives in red blood cells, while in mosquitoes it resides in the stomach wall.” PARASITES MULTIPLY FAST Malaria parasites also multiply at an astonishing rate. A single mosquito can carry up to 15,000 copies. When it bites, about 50 to 100 of those enter the human body, where they multiply again. “During this replication, mistakes sometimes occur, creating variations. These can accidentally provide an advantage over the standard strain, making the variant resistant to drugs. Over time, that variant becomes dominant. That’s why new treatments are constantly needed.” What also makes research challenging is that malaria is considered a neglected disease. Despite its scale, relatively little funding is allocated. “That’s partly because it mainly occurs in the Southern Hemisphere and not in the Western world.” Hence the mission of TropIQ. “We are impact- driven”, says Dechering. “Our philosophy is that people can only develop and participate economically if they are healthy. And on a global scale, the greatest inequality in that respect lies between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. We aim to reduce that gap.” To that end, significant strides have been made in malaria research in recent years. There are now 2 vaccines on the market that provide protection to about half of all young children. “The ideas for these vaccines originated in the lab where I began my PhD research in 1993. That’s how long it takes. And they’re still not perfect, but we’re learning a lot from them right now. This knowledge will allow us to improve the next generation of vaccines in a targeted way. In that sense, it’s a hopeful time. tropiq.nl Koen Dechering
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODY1MjQ=