ViroBlogy

This is our stab at getting South African science funders to take microbial diversity seriously.  I helped write it, obviously.  And it’s Open Access!

I got into PCR sometime in around 1988 – and have since developed amplifications for multicopy genes, virus genes, whole virus genomes, and taught students to do the same.  I have worked with papillomaviruses, HIV, geminiviruses, chicken infectious anaemia virus and potyviruses; my students do PCR for gene assembly and verification of cloned inserts, and do quantitative PCR and cDNA PCR for quantitation of gene expression and assay of virus replication in the presence of inhibitory constructs.

It revolutionised our work more than 30 years ago, and continues to be a fundamental workhorse technique in our labs today.

Viva, PCR, viva!

Kary Mullis – not so much.  The man’s a HIV denialist, or has been, and I have no time for them.

At last!  We may have passed the peak of the HIV pandemic – at least in SA – at last!!

It’s been a hard road: denialism, activism, the biggest roll-out of ARVs in the world, socially engineering a whole population to change their behaviour – and maybe it’s finally working!

South Africa needs a "viva!"!!

But we’ve still got 6 million-odd people infected with HIV – and they will be around for a while.  Time for therapeutic vaccines!!

At last!  South Africa will finally make HPV vaccines available for free to schoolgirls between 9-12 – in preparation for their eventual exposure, via sex, to the viruses that cause cervical cancer.

HPV vaccines are blockbusters for a reason: they are one of only two viral vaccines that will almost certainly prevent cancer developing in a proportion of those who get infected with the viruses in question – which are, of course, HPV and hepatitis B.

And given that most humans have sex, a pretty high percentage of sexually active humans will be exposed to HPV and – to a lesser extent – HBV.

Sex is a normal activity.  Vaccinating against sexually transmitted diseases is therefore a sensible thing to do.  Vaccinating against HPV in a country where over 12% of the population have HIV, is even more sensible – because HIV worsens the effects of HPV.

Vaccination: the sensible thing to do.

Interesting…as an inventor named on a bunch of patents, I should be concerned – but I’m not, because I also believe that people shouldn’t die for want of affordable drugs.

I really, really do.

We have negotiated terms on every licencing deal we have been involved in, that would allow us exclusivity in the African and sometimes other developing world markets – with the intention of ensuring that prices of our product(s) (if any EVER get to market) remain affordable in these regions.

As it is, what the legislation intends to do is to make it more difficult for Big Pharma to extend their patent protection on drugs by simply making changes to formulations, which is a common practice.  I note India is doing the same, and for the same reasons.

Seriously: while companies should receive financial reward for developing drugs, this should not be allowed to continue in perpetuity.

I also don’t think they should be allowed to gouge the market, but that’s another argument.

This is actually unconscionable: given that SA was doing so well, with the largest number of people in any country on ARVs, to fail them now is to completely discredit our health system – and our government.

Seriously: why do we have a problem?  First, failures in local and national government; second, indefensible behaviour by local government and others in intimidating whistle-blowers, rather than dealing with the problem at hand.

Isn’t that exactly what happened in the pandemic in 2009 – and in 1918?  A disproportionate number of young healthy adults dying, compared to babies and old folk?

I blogged about this during the pandemic (https://rybicki.wordpress.com/2009/09/14/ah1n1-2009-gets-to-parts-the-other-flu-doesnt-reach/) and noted somewhere (that I can’t find) that the death toll was about as high as normal seasonal flu – but WITHOUT people over 50, who seemed to be protected by prior exposure.

This is a nasty virus: if I weren’t protected by prior exposure – being over 50, I would be worried enough to be vaccinated against it specifically.  So should you be!

Yup!  The wait-and-see brigade who say there’s no evidence the vaccine(s) prevent cancer should really shut up: successfully preventing the precursor stages of cervical disease that have been shown to lead to cancer MUST be evidence enough – surely?