Hope for Malaria: World’s first malaria vaccine approved

European drug regulators have given approval

to world’s first malaria vaccine. They have suggested it should be approved for use in babies in African countries where there is an increased risk of diseases caused by mosquito bite.

The vaccine

The vaccine is known as RTS,S or Mosquirix and is the first human vaccine against a parasitic disease and has been claimed to prevent the occurrence of incidence of millions of cases of malaria in countries using the vaccine.

The initiative

As it is a well registered fact that almost 80% or more deaths caused due to malaria occur in children below the age of five years.

British pharmaceutical giant, Glaxo Smith Kline along with the PATH Malaria vaccine initiative and partly funded by Bill and Melinda Gates foundation developed the vaccine, Mosquirix.

The use of this malaria vaccine in conjunction with other treatment interventions can significantly control the occurrence of malaria in young children.

Will it work?

Early trial reports stated that malaria vaccine could bring down occurrence of malaria to a small extent in babies in the age group of 6 to 12 weeks and 5 to 17 weeks.

Scientists and doctors are of the view that the antimalarial vaccine should be licensed for use in babies between the ages of 6 weeks to 17 weeks. Doctors have suggested that the vaccine has tremendous potential in reducing the toll of sickness and death caused due to malaria.

The vaccine needs a booster shot to be able to reduce the rate of severe malaria.

The concerns

The vaccine has not proven to be very effective in protecting infants and young babies from severe cases of malaria. The efficacy of the vaccine reduces over a period of time and hence it is essential to give booster shots.

In addition, the vaccine could not be given along with other childhood vaccine which can be translated as expenses and organizational set up at large scale to plan vaccine outside the regular immunization schedule.

It is crucial for children to receive all the four doses in order to benefit from the vaccine.

How does it work?

It works by stimulating body’s immunity to fight against the first stages of Plasmodium falciparum infection following its entry into the blood stream as a result of mosquito bite.

The last word…

The vaccine is not a “magic bullet” but even a partially effective malaria vaccine can play a significant part in cutting down the high frequency of the disease. It is definitely an important building block towards the development of a much more effective malaria vaccine.