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The World Health Organization announced this week that Malawi has become the first country to start immunizing children against malaria. According to WHO officials, the country uses the only vaccine approved to protect itself against mosquito-spread disease.
According to Associated Press, the vaccine protects about one-third of the children who receive it. But those who are vaccinated may have a less severe case of malaria.
The disease kills about 435,000 people each year. In Africa, most victims are children under five.
"It's a flawed vaccine, but it still has the potential to save tens of thousands of lives," notes Alister Craig. He is at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in Great Britain. He added that immunizing the most at-risk children during the peak season of malaria could prevent thousands of people from getting sick or even dying.
Craig is not related to the malaria vaccine or to the WHO.
The vaccine, known as Mosquirix, is a product of the British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline. It was approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2015.
A previous test had shown that the vaccine was effective at about 30% in children who received four injections, but this protection has weakened over time. Reported adverse effects include pain, high body temperatures, and severe shaking.
Pedro Alonso is responsible for the WHO malaria program. He added that similar vaccination programs would be put in place in the coming weeks in Kenya and Ghana. The goal is to vaccinate about 360,000 children each year in the three countries.
Alonso described the vaccination campaign as historic moment. He noted that it was much harder to design a vaccine against a parasite – an organism living in or on another organism – as opposed to a bacterium or a virus.
Alonso admitted that the malaria vaccine had problems. But he said the world could not wait for a better version.
"We do not know how long it will take to develop the new generation vaccine," he said. "It can be many, many years away."
He said that slow progress against malaria requires new tools now. Resistance increases to drugs that treat the disease. And mosquitoes are becoming more resistant to insecticides. In addition, funding for malaria has not increased in recent years.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and its partners have spent more than 30 years developing the vaccine at a cost of about $ 1 billion. A spokesperson for the company said GSK was working with partners to raise funds for even larger vaccination programs.
Some experts say the vaccine should not hurt other efforts that provide inexpensive and proven ways to reduce malaria. They note examples such as the use of mosquito nets around sleeping areas and insecticide products.
"It's a daring thing to do, but it's not a quick fix," said Thomas Churcher, a malaria specialist at Imperial College London. A "miracle solution" is a simple and immediate answer to a complex problem.
Churcher added: "As long as the use of the vaccine does not interfere with other efforts, such as the urgent need for new insecticides, it's a good thing to do."
Alister Craig noted that a difficulty might be to persuade parents to take their children doses of a vaccine that only protects about one-third of children – for a limited time.
The most commonly used vaccines, such as those against polio and measles, work more than 90% of the time.
"This malaria vaccine will save many lives, even if it's not as good as we'd like," Craig said. "But I hope it will revive other research efforts so that the story does not end here."
I am Anna Matteo.
The Associated Press has reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the publisher.
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Words in this story
immunize – v. give (someone) a vaccine to prevent infection with an illness
mosquito – not. a small flying insect that bites the skin of people and animals and sucks their blood
moment – not. a very short period of time
dose – not. the amount of a drug, drug or vitamin taken at the same time
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