Developing a Vaccine against the Scabies - Assignment Example

Scabies Student’s name Institution Scabies Executive summary Scabies is a skin infecting disease that can be transmitted from one person to another whenever there is a lengthened skin contact with an infected person (Jarvis, 2007). In particular, the disease infects people of all races, socioeconomic standards, and ages, although children are the most affected, there is increase in the rate of infection worldwide to up to 10% of the global population (Gratz, 2006). The mites found more often in the overpopulated areas and places of poor hygienic conditions. In such vulnerable areas, there is an increase of up to 80% infection (Gratz, 2006). This paper discusses different strategies that have been attempted to develop a vaccine against the disease. Introduction Scabies is caused by a microscopic mite known as Sarcoptes scabei (Krieg, Bickers, & Miyachi, 2009). The mite is a little arthropod with a length of 0.3mm and has no wings and eyes (Krieg, Bickers, & Miyachi, 2009). It has several bristles on its oval and flat shaped body with eight short legs (Krieg, Bickers, & Miyachi, 2009). When the eggs of the female mite are fertilized, it burrows under the skin and lays the eggs, which are hatched after a week (Krieg, Bickers, & Miyachi, 2009). The larvae then move to the exterior part of the skin and develop into adults who can be alive to about one month on the skin (Krieg, Bickers, & Miyachi, 2009). An individual can realize that he or she is infected by scabies when some changes appear on the skin, for instance, appearance of itchy spots and irritations mostly between the fingers, the elbow or at the breasts (Krieg, Bickers, & Miyachi, 2009). The person suffering from the disease can also experience a continuous and severe itching when the body is warm at night. Sores on the skin also appear after scratching. As a result, dark, scaly rashes destruct the host’s skin and deep crusts are developed after sometime (Krieg, Bickers, & Miyachi, 2009). Literature review Recently, the discovery of the vaccine against Scabies turned out to be a crisis to the public and healthcare providers (Gratz, 2006). Vaccination occurs to be the introduction of a small quantity of infection in to the body so that the normal immunity builds strongly when the antibodies are introduced to fight the disease completely, making the body to resist the disease (Gratz, 2006). Currently, there is no available vaccine to prevent scabies (Stuart, Kouimtzi, & Hill, 2009). However, there are strategies that are put forward to encounter the treatment and immunizations against the disease (Stuart, Kouimtzi, & Hill, 2009). Scientists are continually coming up with strategies to develop a vaccine against scabies (Stuart, Kouimtzi, & Hill, 2009). Sulphur compounds have been found to be very effective but they can cause irritation of the skin, they are also smelly and messy, thus they have become unacceptable to the patients (Stuart, Kouimtzi, & Hill, 2009). An ester of benzoic acid and benzyl alcohol known as benzyl benzoate, was originally separated from natural products, and has been effective for not less than sixty years (Ascabiol) (Stuart, Kouimtzi, & Hill, 2009). Benzyl benzoate is a quickly acting agent, and therefore, a short exposure to it is likely to be efficient (Webber, 2009). The main side effect of benzyl benzoate is skin irritation in the first minutes after application (Webber, 2009). Gamma benzene hexachloride 1% (lindane, Kwell, Quellada) is another agent which has been found to have a very high cure rate within a short duration of using it (Stuart, Kouimtzi, & Hill, 2009). The latest vaccine that has been developed by scientist is Permethrin 5% (Lyclear) (Webber, 2009). Although more expensive than other agents, Permethrin 5% (Lyclear) is now considered the most preferred treatment in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom, (Webber, 2009). The science around the genetics of an organism has provided the researchers with a detailed way to find out the best strategy to come up with a vaccine (Sainani, Joshi, & Mehta, 2005). The knowledge exhibited from studying the relationship between the organism and its immune system would promote the understanding of how to avoid any infestation that may occur (Sainani, Joshi, & Mehta, 2005). Results show that, the mites’ releases substances that adapt to the immunity reaction of the infected persons that continues to the latency phase before the symptoms start appearing (Stuart, Kouimtzi, & Hill, 2009). Although, there is treatment to the disease, strategies that lead to the development of the vaccines are in progress (Sainani, Joshi, & Mehta, 2005). Hosts are immunized with antigen midgut proteins from the mite to prevent the ectoparasitic infestation (Webber, 2009). This has gained the latest curiosity that has made the researchers to attempt to find the vaccine (Webber, 2009). Although acaricides to prevent the existence of the scabies mites are available, investigations about the introduction of the vaccine is still in progress (Webber, 2009). The fact that scabies is an ectoparasite that does not feed on blood implies that, it consumes the antibody of the host no more than when it is feeding on the tissue fluid when it consumes the stratum corneum (Webber, 2009). This encourages the researchers to find out further studies about the immunization system against the disease (Sainani, Joshi, & Mehta, 2005). When the mite tries to feed on the vaccinated mass, which posses the antibodies they are destroyed by a specific antibodies from the infected person’s blood. In response to this, the parasite’s midgut bursts and dies (Webber, 2009). In a similar way, farm animals especially cattle are vaccinated against Boophilus microplus and linognathus vituli caused by ticks and louse respectively (Webber, 2009). This technique has been successful when vaccination by the same means where the antigenic protein is introduced from the tick and louse gut (Webber, 2009). The most precise information about scabies mites is that, they consume immunoglobulin that is intended to be against the mites (Webber, 2009). New mites will be removed from the host when the known antibody to the host is marked by use of the fluorescent-labeled criteria (Webber, 2009). The marked antibody to the host affects the interior midgut and esophagus of the new mites causing them to die (Webber, 2009). Studies have verified that the immunity reaction system to scabies by the hosts has developed resistance (Gorell, 2009). Three levels of complements were experimental from the patterns of infestations done before the hosts developed elevated scabies specific antibody titers in the infestations (Gorell, 2009). This indicates that the immunity of the hosts in the second infestation is lower than the immunity that was exhibited in the first infestation (Jarvis, 2007). This is because during the second infestation, the immunity is acquired while in the case of any other infestation there is no immunity present (Jarvis, 2007). Moreover, in the case where immunity is induced and joined with the rising level of antibody in both the immune and the non-immune hosts, shows that resistance that would occur during re-infestation is related to the stimuli response with the cell-mediated (Jarvis, 2007). As a result, all vaccinations done with the specific scabies tissues carrying an appropriate antigen combination has been successful (Stuart, Kouimtzi, & Hill, 2009). The suggestion to the results involved improving the protection of the host from the first infestation by strengthening the cell-mediated reaction by introducing the antigens (Jarvis, 2007). The immunizations that were done to the hosts show that the definite immunogenic antibody titers do not depend on the scabies infestations that have occurred (Stuart, Kouimtzi, & Hill, 2009). The hosts that are resistant posses a lower the specific scabies immunoglobulin titers which make less antibody and few antigens are formed unlike the nonresistant hosts (Stuart, Kouimtzi, & Hill, 2009). During this experiment, the infestation that occurred, presented the results of the cellular infiltrate of the lesions of scabies is composed of the plasma cells, the neutrophils, and the mononuclear cells (Stuart, Kouimtzi, & Hill, 2009). The resistant hosts portray characteristics like the presence of a few plasma cells in their infiltrate than it was found in the infiltrate of the nonresistant hosts (Gorell, 2009). According to the observations made, the resistant hosts showed an increasing amount of the infiltrating neutrophils causing an equally decreasing mite existence (Krieg, Bickers, & Miyachi, 2009). The nonresistant hosts on the other hand, previously exhibited a prompt increase, followed by a decrease and later a steady increase from the tested concentration of the neutrophils in relation to the increasing mite existence (Krieg, Bickers, & Miyachi, 2009). The introduction of the defensive immunity to the hosts could cater for the pteronsyssinus antigen in scabies mites (Krieg, Bickers, & Miyachi, 2009). Conclusion Scientists are constantly trying to come up with strategies to develop an effective vaccine against scabies. However, most cases of scabies currently can be cured with very less difficulties using the agent currently available. Due to the difficulty in preventing scabies, people are encouraged not to have any form of skin contact with the infected persons. All the infected members of the family should be treated at the same time to avoid re-infection. Significantly, further information and research about the study of scabies and its immunization is still acceptable References: Gorell, A. H. (2009). Primary care medicine office evaluation and management of the adult patient (6th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams $ Wilkins, a Wolter Kluwer business. Gratz, N. G. (2006). The vector- and rodent-borne diseases of Europe and North America: their distribution and public health burden. Cambridge: Cambridge university press. Jarvis, W. R. (2007). Bennett & Brachman's hospital infections (5th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Krieg, T., Bickers, D. R., & Miyachi, Y. (2010). Therapy of skin diseases a worldwide perspective on therapeutic approaches and their molecular basis. Heidelberg: Springer. Krieg, T., Bickers, D. R., & Miyachi, Y. (2009). Therapy of Skin Diseases. New York: Springer. Sainani, G. S., Joshi, V. R., & Mehta, P. J. (2005). Medical therapeutics. New Delhi, India: Elsevier. Stuart, M. C., Kouimtzi, M., & Hill, S. R. (2009). Whom model formulary 2008 based on the 15th model list of essential medicines 2007. Geneva: World Health Organization. Webber, R. (2009). Communicable disease epidemiology and control: a global perspective (3rd ed.). Wallingford, Oxfordshire: Cabi. Read More