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New malaria vaccine to protect children
2004-10-21

A trial published in the Lancet showed promising results for a malaria vaccine for young children. The vaccine was safe, delayed infection in almost a third more patients, and cut prevalence nearly in half compared with control vaccines.

Scientists have taken an important step towards developing an effective malaria vaccine, announcing in today's edition of the Lancet that a candidate vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline will protect a significant number of children.

Malaria kills more than 1-million people each year, many of them young children. Population growth and increasing resistance to cheap and previously effective drugs means that by the end of the decade more than half the world's population could be living in areas where malaria is transmitted.

Although the incidence of malaria in SA is relatively low, the disease already strips Africa of an estimated 12bn annually. Unless effective ways are found to control the disease, costs will continue to rise. The phase II trial of the RTS,S/AS02A candidate vaccine was the largest to date and involved more than 2000 Mozambican children who are more than six months old.

Two groups of children were randomly given three injections of either the candidate vaccine or a placebo. In the first group of 1600 children, scientists found the risk of developing malaria was 37% lower in the children who received the candidate vaccine and 58% fewer children developed severe or fatal malaria.

In the second group of 400 children, scientists measured the vaccine's ability to prevent subsequent infections. They found the vaccine's efficacy was 45%. The results of this trial represent a significant scientific advance, said the study's lead author, Dr Pedro Alonso, from the Manhia Health Research Centre in Mozambique.

Further studies are needed to determine whether the vaccine works for large numbers of people, according to the Malaria Vaccine Initiative. (Source: Business Day, 15 October 2004).

see http://www.thelancet.com

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