Prevention is better than cure, certainly where HIV and AIDS are concerned. After all, once the HIV virus enters the body, it will remain there forever. Not even the constantly improving medication for curbing the virus can prevent this. What effective medication can do is prevent AIDS from developing and ensure that the patient is no longer able to pass on the virus. However, successful treatment requires intensive medical care.
Together with researchers from the US, BPRC has made an important discovery in the quest to find new ways of treating malaria. They've found a protein that is key to the growth of malaria parasites, offering new possibilities for developing tests for drug research.
On 30 April last, Prof. Jaak Vossen passed away at the age of 81. Prof. Vossen worked at the Leiden University Medical Center as a paediatrician from 1968 and as professor of Paediatrics with a chair in paediatric immunology from 1979 to 2002.
Precisely in the 2019 World Immunization Week, on 23 April, the malaria research community announced hopeful news (in Dutch). The news marked the roll-out of a large-scale pilot with the first malaria vaccine. ‘The vaccine should provide partial protection to children in Malawi against the deadly parasite.’
BPRC has already made great strides in the development of alternative research methods. Now our experts have come another step closer to this objective, with the engineering of an animal-free method to detect impurities in new types of medicines – impurities that can cause dangerous side effects.
Not every runny nose means you have flu. It's only after you've actually contracted the flu virus that we call it flu. During an average flu epidemic in the Netherlands, this happens to about half a million people. The majority of them recover within a couple of weeks, but some people can develop very serious complications. In the Netherlands, people in risk groups can be vaccinated against flu, but the current flu vaccine is under pressure – literally and figuratively.
Last Friday 29 March, two news shows made by the Netherlands Broadcasting Corporation (NOS) broadcast a news item about animal experiments, the NOS Journaal for adults and the Jeugdjournaal for children. In order to make these items they visited BPRC, prompted by the news that the number of animal experiments will be gradually decreasing in the coming years.
‘It's like a zoo in here’
This week, Dutch children's TV programme Zapp Buitendienst is zooming in on animal experiments. That's something we at BPRC know all about. Series presenters Nienke and Sosha came to visit and took a look behind the scenes so they could give their viewers the full story. This episode of the popular kid's show aired Friday March 22 on NPO 3 at 5:45 pm.
There was good news two weeks ago for the fight against depression and obsessive-compulsive neuroses. This article (in Dutch) on the online knowledge platform Nationale Zorggids (National Care Guide) describes how scientists have managed to change brain activity in monkeys, 'meaning that ultrasound could possibly be used to treat depression and other brain disorders in the future'.
Hugo de Jonge, the Dutch Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, announced last month that he would be making additional funds available for dementia research. He intends to double the budget (€48 million) that has already been set aside until 2020 for addressing dementia. De Jonge is convinced that better treatments need to be developed. 'It is well on its way to becoming the number-one public disease,' he said in this television programme.
