New malaria vaccine

Exciting news!

In October 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the use of the RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine in children living in areas with moderate to high malaria transmission. This is a significant milestone in the fight against malaria, a disease that claims hundreds of thousands of lives every year, mostly in Africa.

Here are some key facts about the new malaria vaccine:

What is RTS,S? RTS,S is a recombinant vaccine that contains a weakened form of the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, which causes the most severe form of malaria. The vaccine is designed to stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies that can recognize and fight the parasite.

How does it work? The vaccine is administered in a series of four doses, given at 0, 1, 2, and 18 months of age. It works by stimulating the immune system to produce antibodies that can recognize and fight the parasite, which helps to prevent malaria infections.

Efficacy and safety In clinical trials, RTS,S was shown to be safe and effective in preventing severe malaria and hospitalizations due to malaria. The vaccine was found to be most effective in children under the age of 5, with an efficacy rate of around 30%. While this may not seem like a high efficacy rate, it is still a significant improvement over no vaccine at all.

WHO recommendation The WHO recommendation is based on the results of a large-scale clinical trial conducted in seven African countries, which showed that the vaccine can help reduce the number of malaria cases and hospitalizations in children. The WHO recommends that the vaccine be used in areas with moderate to high malaria transmission, where it can have the greatest impact.

Challenges and limitations While the RTS,S vaccine is a significant step forward in the fight against malaria, there are still challenges and limitations to its use. For example, the vaccine is not 100% effective, and it may not provide long-term protection against malaria. Additionally, the vaccine is still relatively expensive, which may limit its availability in some parts of the world.

Next steps The WHO and other global health organizations are working to scale up the production and distribution of the RTS,S vaccine, with the goal of making it available to millions of children in Africa and other parts of the world. Researchers are also working to improve the vaccine's efficacy and durability, as well as to develop new vaccines that can provide longer-term protection against malaria.

Overall, the RTS,S vaccine is an important tool in the fight against malaria, and it has the potential to save thousands of lives every year.