Malaria vaccine candidate shows continued protection up to 18 months after vaccination
The scientific journal PLOS Medicine has just published the results of a large-scale phase III trial about malaria vaccine efficacy. They show that the most clinically advanced malaria vaccine candidate continues to protect young children and infants from clinical malaria up to 18 months after vaccination. Results were first presented in October 2013 at the 6th Multilateral Initiative on Malaria Pan-African Conference (MIM) in Durban, South Africa.
The scientific journal PLOS Medicine has just published the results of a large-scale phase III trial about malaria vaccine efficacy. They show that the most clinically advanced malaria vaccine candidate continues to protect young children and infants from clinical malaria up to 18 months after vaccination. Results were first presented in October 2013 at the 6th Multilateral Initiative on Malaria Pan-African Conference (MIM) in Durban, South Africa.
The study included 8,923 children aged 5 to 17 months and 6,537 infants aged 6 to 12 weeks and showed continued protection during 18 months of follow-up. Vaccine efficacy was evaluated independently at the eleven centres participating in the trial located at seven different African countries. Published results confirm those published in the New England Journal of Medicine several months ago, showing that the vaccine was efficacious in close to 50% of African children aged 5 to 17 months and in 30% of infants vaccinated between 6 and 12 weeks.
Pedro Alonso, professor from the Department of Public Health at the Facuty of Medicine of the University of Barcelona (UB), director general of the Barcelona Institute of Global Health (ISGlobal) and head of the International Health and Tropical Medicine Unit at the Hospital Clínic in Barcelona, highlighted that “even though the vaccine has shown only partial efficacy, it still has an important role to play in malaria control strategies, particularly in countries with the highest burden of disease”. “The vaccine —he adds— will complement not only existing malaria prevention tools, such as insecticide-impregnated mosquito nets, but also the timely administration of suitable treatment of confirmed cases”. It is important to remark that Dr Pedro Alonso, one of the authors of this new study, has just been appointed new director of the Global Malaria Programme of the World Health Organization.