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The new vaccine, called RTS, S, causes the immune system to recognize and fight the malaria parasite transmitted by mosquitoes.
In 2017, 219 million people were infected with malaria and 435,000 people died as a result of the disease. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 90% of them lived in Africa. Children under five are most at risk of serious illness and most people who die of malaria are children.
However, there is no talk of complete protection due to the new vaccine. Previous studies have shown that the protective effect of RTS, S is about 40%.
"A highly effective vaccine, at about 90%, is not in sight for the moment, but this vaccine shows that it is possible to make a vaccine against malaria, so it will open the way (for other vaccines), "said Mary Hamel of WHO according to the BBC public service channel.
The vaccine should be administered in four doses one month apart for the first three doses. The fourth syringe is taken 18 months later. The researchers hope that the vaccine, combined with mosquito nets and insecticides, will significantly reduce the number of children affected and deceased as a result of the disease.
"We have seen great progress in the use of bed nets and other malaria control measures, but this progress has come to an end, and they have even returned in some areas, so we need new solutions for positive development to continue.This malaria vaccine could potentially save the lives of tens of thousands of children, "said the Director General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a statement of press.
Vaccines began in Malawi at the time, a country that had about five million confirmed malaria cases in 2017. In a few weeks, vaccinations with RTS, S will also begin in Kenya and Ghana. These countries have been chosen because they have already put in place extensive programs to curb the disease with other measures. The goal is to reach 360,000 children a year in all three countries.
The vaccine was developed by the pharmaceutical company GSK, a process that took 32 years.
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