If everything remained on track, then scientists are all set to develop a shot against black fever. Scientists from India, Brazil, Britain, US and Australia have been working relentlessly to find out the remedy for the fatal parasitic infection transmitted by sandflies, known as visceral leishmaniasis, the world's second biggest killer after malaria.
Scientists from India, Brazil, Britain, US and Australia, Blackwell identified variation in a specific region of the major immune response locus, known to immunologists as the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), as the single most important genetic risk factor for disease, according to an university statement.
The researchers compared genomes of 1,346 people suffering from disease in India and Brazil against those of 2702 healthy controls.
The researchers have find and confirmed in an independent cohort of 941 cases and 990 healthy controls (not suffering from black fever) from India.
Jenefer Blackwell, professor and head of genetics at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia co-authored the study which has uncovered a single major genetic risk factor for visceral leishmaniasis.
Teams in Australia, Britain and the US are using the results to study the way the immune system interacts with the disease in mice.
"Earlier genetic studies of visceral leishmaniasis in inbred mice allowed us to clearly demonstrate the importance of the MHC in regulating this disease," Blackwell said.
It is noted that kala azar has a vital disease includes fever, weight loss, mucosal ulcers, fatigue, anaemia and substantial swelling of the liver and spleen. The black fever parasite migrates to organs such as liver, spleen and bone marrow and if left untreated will almost always be fatal.
(With inputs from IANS)
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