Work continues on rare bacteria vaccine

The efforts of medical researchers to discover why a rare bacteria disproportionately affects Aboriginal people in northern Ontario have gotten a boost from the participation of residents in the region.
Researchers at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) in Thunder Bay are examining Type A Haemophilus influenzae, a bacteria that causes deadly diseases such as meningitis and pneumonia.
The research has been spurred by the need for a vaccine for the bacteria, which appears to target First Nations people in northern Ontario more than non-Aboriginal Canadians.
Last week the researchers held a blood drive in Thunder Bay to collect samples from urban First Nations people of the region.
Eli Nix, a PhD researcher at NOSM, said the willingness of First Nations people to participate in the study is essential for gathering more information and eventually creating a vaccine.
“We can’t do this on our own,” Nix said. “If people are not willing to help us, the work cannot go very far.”
Blood samples taken as part of the study are analyzed to determine what level of natural antibodies to the bacteria already exists in that person. Type A h. influenza is then added to the sample, so that researchers are able to see how the blood’s natural defenses deal with the bacteria.
The end goal is the creation of a vaccine to boost people’s antibody levels.
The work on Type A h. influenza was spurred by research done at Lakehead University over the past 10 years, which showed that nearly every person who entered hospital with diseases caused by the rare bacteria was of First Nations descent.
Nix said those findings have raised speculation that First Nations people have less natural antibodies to the bacteria than non-Aboriginal people.
But he cautioned that there is no proof to back up those suspicions.
“There are studies that say ethnicity is a factor, but I’m not totally convinced,” Nix said.
He noted that people who became sick from the bacteria may have had previous medical conditions that lowered their immune systems, or that environmental and social factors such as crowded houses could play a role in how the bacteria spreads.
The research should help clarify some of those questions, Nix said, and help researchers target potential vaccines to people who are most at risk.
The next step for Nix and his team is to get more participants from remote communities across northwestern Ontario. Nix said it is essential that the study includes both urban and remote First Nations people, as well as samples from a number of different communities.
NOSM plans to hold another blood sample collection event in Thunder Bay later this summer, as well as travel to communities interested in participating in the study.
Nix said the samples are kept confidential, but people can find out their own results after the samples get analyzed.
Anyone interested in participating can contact Dr. Eli Nix at (807) 766-7491 or by email at eli.nix@nosm.ca.