By IANS,
Washington : Johns Hopkins researchers are developing a newer approach to tackling pneumonia, which remains the biggest killer of children worldwide.
The core initiative at Johns Hopkins, called the Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health (PERCH), aims to build a new, rigorous evidence base by studying the causes of paediatric pneumonia in five to 10 countries across the developing world using state-of-the-art diagnostics.
“Our current information on pneumonia etiology is about to become obsolete,” said Orin Levine, associate professor at Hopkins Bloomberg School department of international health, and principal project investigator.
“Most existing information was generated 10 to 20 years ago with lab techniques that hadn’t changed vastly since Louis Pasteur’s time. By applying modern tools with standardised methods, we will be able to provide new, precise information to guide the development of new vaccines and treatments,” Levine said.
Two additional Johns Hopkins studies will strengthen the initiative’s fight against pneumonia and related diseases. Hope Johnson will project the burden of disease in adolescents and adults attributable to two dangerous bacteria – the pneumococcus and the meningococcus – that together cause many cases of pneumonia and other life-threatening illnesses such as meningitis.
Jennifer Mo�si will undertake an evaluation of diagnostic methods for pneumococcal disease, a major cause of childhood pneumonia, particularly in the developing world. Together, these projects will influence the development and deployment of lifesaving vaccines throughout the world, said a Johns Hopkins release.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has received three grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation totalling more than $43 million for this purpose.