Works that got Nobel prize for medicine 2015 part 1

William Campbell and Satoshi Omura shared the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine for the year 2015 for their discoveries of a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites.

Ivermectin is the drug which is a dihydro derivative of avermectin. Satoshi Omura isolated a bacteria called as Streptomyces avermitis isolated from Japanese soil at Kitasato Institute Tokyo. He found that ivermitis was originated solely by the bacteria; which, in the later years proved to be a wonder drug as it pioneered the treatments of river blindness and other infections caused by roundworm infections.

Initially, this drug was discovered as a veterinary drug and proved effective in treating the parasitic infections in the domestic livestock and companions.

It was the group of scientists working at Merck research laboratories lead by William Campbell started working in collaboration with Satoshi Omura and started doing research on the Ivermectin. Dr Campbell showed the drug’s role in human medicine, and he proved the effectiveness of Ivermitis against onchocerciasis which is famously called as river blindness. He also proved the drug’s effectiveness against Filariasis (elephantiasis).

Today Ivermectin is successfully being used to treat infections from a variety of roundworm parasitic infections such  as Strangyloidiasis, Scabies, Pediculosis, Gnathomiasis and Myiasis  Ivermectin proved its activity against Leishmaniasis and other soil parasites such as Ascaris, Trichuris and hookworms

River Blindness(Onchocerciasis): is the disease caused by infection from parasitic worm Onchocerca volvulus. The parasitic infection spreads through the bites of black flies whose location found naturally close to the fast-running streams and rivers. This infection causes severe itching and bumps under skin and lesions on the eyes, repeated exposure to Onchocerca Volvuluslead to irreversible blindness.

Today Onchocerciasis– The second most common cause of blindness due to infection is getting eradicated from the earth. Thanks to the invention of the scientists and they truly deserve a Nobel prize.