Viruses can get into cells in several ways. Figuring out how to stop them from entering in the first place is a key to developing better vaccines and stopping future pandemics.
The past two years have seen groundbreaking advances in the fight against malaria with the development of two vaccines. But demand far exceeds supply, so rollouts need to be carefully managed.
In 2021 10.6 million people developed TB and 1.6 million died from the disease. Now, for the first time in 100 years, there are promising signs of a vaccine breakthrough.
Vaccine policies fall on a spectrum, from mandates to recommendations. Deciding what to use and when is not so much a science but a balancing act between personal autonomy and public good.
People have been trying to make malaria vaccines for over 100 years. With the help of the revolutionary new R21/Matrix vaccine the disease could be eradicated by 2040.
The bacterium that causes Lyme disease is a master of disguise, changing its appearance to evade the immune system as it moves from the ticks that carry it to humans or animals.
Chlamydia is devastating for koalas, but the vaccine to prevent infection requires a booster shot. Recapturing the animals for their booster shot is costly and stresses them, but there’s a solution.
Naomi Klein uses her frequent confusion with ‘doppelganger’ Naomi Wolf to spark an exploration of doubles, mirror-worlds, and the gulf between left and right.
Specific beliefs may have more to do with people’s vaccine views than their religious affiliation – but it depends on which vaccine you’re talking about.
Dean Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand; and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand