The research in which this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine has fallen study parasitic diseases that affect the most disadvantaged populations on the planet .
Thus, the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology has been divided into two investigations: on the one hand, William C. Campbell and Satoshi Omura have been awarded for their discoveries on a treatment against parasitic infections caused by worms – such as elephantiasis -; on the other, the Nobel Assembly of the Karolinska Institute (Sweden) has highlighted Youyou Tu for his advances in a new therapy against malaria.
William C. Campbell and Satoshi Omura found a new drug called avermectin that has significantly reduced the incidence of river blindness and lymphatic filariasis (or elephantiasis), and has also proven effective with other parasitic diseases. For his part, Youyou Tu discovered that artemisinin – also known as qinghaosu- could radically reduce death rates in malaria patients. Specifically, in Africa alone, this compound can save more than 100,000 lives a year .
“These two discoveries have provided humanity with powerful new means to combat these devastating pathologies that affect hundreds of millions of people each year. The consequences in terms of improving human health and reducing suffering are immeasurable ”, explains the Nobel Assembly of the Karolinska Institute in a statement.
