The prospects for checking the pandemic growth of malaria looked brighter this week after scientists reported that, after 18 months, young children in Mozambique were still enjoying protection from the vaccine they are testing.
Malaria takes more than a million lives every year — mostly of children and pregnant women — and the toll is increasing in Africa because of HIV infection.
A year ago, great excitement was generated by the success of trials conducted by a team in Mozambique from the University of Barcelona.
The potential vaccine was found to be partly effective among 2 022 one- to four-year-olds enrolled in the trials. Vaccinated children were 30% less likely to have suffered a bout of malaria needing treatment by the end of six months. It also delayed the time before a first malarial infection among the children by 45% and cut the chances of severe malaria by 58%.
Earlier trials in adults had suggested the vaccine’s effects might wear off quickly. But, on November 15, the team reported in the Lancet journal that, 18 months after vaccination, the children were still protected from the consequences of bites by malarial mosquitoes. They were 35% less likely to get malaria needing treatment, and their chances of suffering severe malaria had halved.
”The unprecedented response is further evidence that an effective vaccine to help control the malaria pandemic, which kills more than one million people a year in developing countries, is very possible,” said Pedro Alonso, head of the Centre for International Health at the Hospital Clinic of the University of Barcelona. — Â