There’s a new malaria vaccine, why it matters


  • A new malaria vaccine is now available to combat the viral disease.
  • This is the second malaria vaccine available, but this vaccine is expected to be less expensive.
  • This new vaccine requires three doses with a booster after 12 months.

A new malaria vaccine has been approved and recommended for use by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Scientists at the University of Oxford have studied and developed a new vaccine to help prevent malaria – only the second vaccine approved for the disease.

The vaccine, called R21/Matrix-M, has been developed to help prevent malaria, a condition that affected an estimated 247 million people in 2021, according to Who,

According to world malaria report 2022It is estimated that there have been more than 200 million cases of malaria worldwide in recent years and more than 600,000 deaths and approximately 75% of all deaths are attributed to children under the age of five.

This is the second available malaria vaccine. The first vaccine, RTS,S/AS01, was recommended by WHO in 2021.

According to Reuters, this new vaccine is produced by the Serum Institute of India and is expected to cost less to produce, meaning more people can be vaccinated at about $2 to $4 per dose, according to the WHO.

According to the Serum Institute of India, “vaccine efficacy at 12 months was 75% in places with high seasonal malaria transmission and 68% in places with more perennial transmission.”

“As a malaria researcher, I dreamed of the day when we would have a safe and effective vaccine against malaria. Now we have two,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Press release,

This new vaccine requires three doses with a booster after 12 months.

“The sacred purpose of vaccinology is to create vaccines against major diseases for which we do not have vaccines or we do not have effective vaccines – such as malaria, and it is exciting to see that science has led us to develop not just one but two.” doing. “Partially effective vaccines,” says Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Despite this malaria vaccine containing a lower dose than the original vaccine, it can still pose a challenge, according to Dr. Jody Dionne, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Division of Infectious Diseases.

“This vaccine is a bit tricky because it must be coordinated with other community-administered pediatric vaccines… Children who miss doses or miss a time will not be protected from infection,” she explained.

Malaria is deadly parasitic disease Which is spread to humans by mosquitoes. It is traditionally found in tropical environments.

The disease can cause mild symptoms such as fever, chills, and headache, while more severe symptoms are possible. These may include seizures, confusion, fatigue, difficulty breathing, and death, according to Who,

One of the biggest challenges in treating malaria is that many symptoms initially appear like a common respiratory infection with fever, congestion, body aches, chills and even nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. If not treated promptly, it can result in serious complications such as kidney failure as well as seizures. CDC,

“Although malaria was ‘eliminated’ from the Americas in 1951, we are beginning to see more cases of malaria across a wider geographic area in the Americas,” Dion said.

are approximately 2,000 cases According to the CDC, malaria is diagnosed every year in the United States, with the majority of cases occurring in travelers or immigrants arriving from countries where malaria transmission is more prevalent – ​​traditionally sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia.

Locally acquired cases were documented in at least two states this year for the first time in two decades.

Unlike conditions like COVID-19 or influenza, malaria is not spread from person to person but by infected mosquitoes, making it difficult to stop the spread of the disease.

“Because this infection is spread by mosquitoes,” Dion said. [insecticide-treated bed nets] It has been proven to be highly effective at preventing bites in malaria-affected areas of the world” but availability can sometimes be a challenge.

Serum Institute of India says they have already set up production capacity to develop 100 million doses per year and will be able to make more than 200 million doses per year in the next two years.

“Having so many available doses will help prevent and prevent disease for many more children in high transmission locations,” Schaffner said.

Schaffner explained that public health officials will target the populations most affected by malaria to help prevent severe disease and death.

“Children are disproportionately affected by malaria and these vaccines are aimed specifically at this vulnerable population,” Schaffner said.

Dr. Rajiv Bahl, an emergency medicine physician, board member of the Florida College of Emergency Physicians, and health writer. you can find it here rajeevbahalmd.com,

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