Recent news
January 2011
Experimental malaria vaccine shows sustained efficacy
January 18, 2011 -- The Lancet has published the results of the mid-stage trials of the experimental GlaxoSmithKline and PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative sponsored malaria vaccine, RTS,S or Mosquirix, that showed long-lasting protection against infection in young children. The mid-phase trial conducted in March 2007 through October 2008 included 894 children aged 5-17 months; early results in 2008 pointed to the vaccine providing 53 percent protection against malaria for up to eight months. The recent study in The Lancet shows that the RTS,S or Mosquirix vaccine is 46 percent effective over 15 months.
It is estimated that malaria kills approximately 900,000 people a year in Africa, most of whom are children. Late stage trials of the RTS,S or Mosquirix vaccine are ongoing in seven countries in Africa and if the data continues to show efficacy, the vaccine could be licensed and rolled out as early as 2015. While more work is needed to explore vaccine efficacy in HIV-positive children and malnourished children, the potential of a malaria vaccine being made available in the near term is a promising development in the fight to control malaria-related deaths in children. See the links below for more information.
