The four major research projects in the Upper River Region implemented by the Medical Research Council (MRC), are said to on course with the understanding of the communities and support by the government.

The four major projects, the Pneumonia Vaccine Trial (PVT), Demographic Surveillance Survey (DSS), Global Enteric Multi-site Studies (GEMS) and Pneumococcal Surveillance Project are expected to be completed in four years.

In an interview with the Daily Observer, Dr Brown Jacob Okoko, head of the PVT project at Basse MRC field station said in the area of research, the new vaccine under study against meningitis A among Gambians, Senegalese and Malian children, adolescents and adults between 2 to 29 years of aged is yielding positive results.

According to him, the study research is designed to determine if this new "conjugate vaccine" is safe; if it works and will protect against meningococcus A germs in people aged from 2 to 29 years.

He added that the research study includes a total of 900 healthy children, adolescents and adults in The Gambia, Senegal and Mali respectively noting that in sub-Saharan African countries, meningococcal diseases occur mainly during the dry season.

Benefits

Dr Brown further stated that during the period of the study, participants who fall sick and appear to have any acute illness during the study period will be treated as usual at the health clinics and at the same time, will be followed by a study doctor and  medical staff who will provide medical support and the national standard medical treatment for the whole duration of the study.

"For chronic diseases or conditions, free treatment will not be offered but the study doctors will provide counselling to the participant about options for care and will refer the participant to the appropriate health structures, facilitating referral by linking directly with the medical team in these structures," he said.

Dr Grant Mackenzie, head of bacterial disease and the Pneumococcal Surveillance Project (PSP) coordinator said the PSP project aims to monitor how much pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia (blood infection) exist before and after the introduction of pneumococcal vaccine.

He added that the research study will also help prevent severe diseases in vaccinated children and means less infection to pass on to older people, who benefit too.

According to him, anybody who is suffering from pneumonia, meningitis or septicaemia should receive standard assessment, investigation and treatment. During the process, he added, samples will be taken to see if pneumococcus is causing the infection, and chest X-rays are performed and the result are analysed without identifying the personal information, in order to look for trends in disease patterns.

He said that the reason for pneumococcal surveillance is to show how effective the vaccine is.

Usman Nurudeen A Ikumapayi, head of laboratory, Basse field station also went through the activities carried out in the lab. He said that most of the projects are under the bacterial disease program that mainly focuses on anemia and bacterial reseach. He further told the visiting team that most of the samples taken from the field are brought to the lab for testing.

"At the community level, field workers are working tirelessly to meet the targets of the projects, in both the north and south of the region" he concluded.