Dr Ruth Bishop has been honoured in a ceremony in Thailand today
for her discovery of rotavirus, and subsequent work on the vaccine
development for the infection; receiving Thailand's Prince Mahidol
Award 2011, in the field of public health.
In 1973, Dr Bishop and her team at The Royal Children's Hospital
were the first to discover that diarrhoea in children was caused by
rotavirus. Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe
dehydrating diarrhoeal illness and death in children under five
worldwide, claiming half a million children every year, mostly in
developing countries. Ruth also discovered the demonstration
of protective immunity against severe disease by natural neonatal
rotavirus infection.
Since the discovery Dr Bishop has overseen the vaccine
development at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, which is
currently in clinical trials phase in New Zealand and
Indonesia. The world-first rotavirus vaccine candidate is
specifically for newborns and its aim is to be available at a lower
cost than others on the market, making it accessible in developing
countries.
Current rotavirus vaccines are given to babies from six to eight
weeks of age, which may leave newborn infants at risk of early
infection and, in countries with limited health care access, may
delay timely administration of the vaccine.
The oral vaccine was shown to be well tolerated during phase one
trials at the institute. Researchers are now investigating how
effective the vaccine is at protecting against the disease and how
long the protection lasts.
The vaccine candidate is the culmination of almost four decades
of research by Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, The Royal
Children's Hospital and the University of Melbourne.
Dr Bishop was selected for the award from a total of 76
nominations from 45 countries. The Prince Mahidol Award Foundation
was established in commemoration of the centenary of the birth of
His Royal Highness Prince Mahidol of Songkla, on January 1, 1992.
The Foundation is under Royal Patronage, with Her Royal Highness
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn as president. The Foundation
annually confers two Prince Mahidol Awards upon individual(s) or
institutions(s), which have demonstrated outstanding and exemplary
contributions to the advancement of the world's medical and public
health services.