Indian Immunological Limited (IIL) has successfully cleared clinical trials for world’s first porcine cysticercosis vaccine and very soon the company is expected to get a final approval from the CDSCO. According to Dr Anand Kumar, deputy director of IIL, “We have successfully cleared all the clinical trials for the world’s first porcine cysticercosis vaccine. We have submitted the data to the CDSCO for the final approval and very soon we are expecting their nod for the manufacture of this vaccine,” said Kumar.

Porcine cysticercosisis a disease that causes brain haemorrhage due to tape warm entering the human brain. This is mainly caused by the cysts shed by the pigs. Explaining further, Dr. Anand informed that cysticercosis is a parasitic tissue infection caused by larval cysts of the tapeworm Taenia solium.

These larval cysts infect brain, muscle, or other tissue, and are a major cause of adult onset seizures in most low-income countries. A person gets cysticercosis by swallowing eggs found in the feces of a person who has an intestinal tapeworm.  People living in the same household with someone who has a tapeworm have a much higher risk of getting cysticercosis than people who don’t. People do not get cysticercosis by eating undercooked pork.  Eating undercooked pork can result in intestinal tapeworm if the pork contains larval cysts.  Pigs become infected by eating tapeworm eggs in the feces of a human infected with a tapeworm.

Both the tapeworm infection, also known as taeniasis and cysticercosis occur globally. The highest rates of infection are found in areas of Latin America, Asia, and Africa that have poor sanitation and free-ranging pigs that have access to human feces. Although uncommon, cysticercosis can occur in people who have never travelled outside of the United States. For example, a person infected with a tapeworm who does not wash his or her hands might accidentally contaminate food with tapeworm eggs while preparing it for others.

In the United States, cysticercosis is considered one of the Neglected Parasitic Infections (NPIs), a group of five parasitic diseases that have been targeted by CDC for public health action.

 “Usually the pigs carry larval cysts of tape warm. If we get in contact of those cysts it may unknowing enter into our body and into our brain though the blood. Therefore we at IIL have come out with a solution through ‘porcine cysticercosis vaccine’,informed Dr. Kumar.