First malaria vaccine slashes early childhood mortality

From the article:

In a major analysis in Africa, the first vaccine approved to fight malaria cut deaths among young children by 13% over nearly 4 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported last week. The huge evaluation of a pilot rollout of the vaccine, called RTS,S or Mosquirix and made by GlaxoSmithKline, also showed a 22% reduction in severe malaria in kids young enough to receive a three-shot series. Hundreds of thousands of children are born annually in the parts of Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi included in the analysis, for which WHO revealed the final data on 20 October at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

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The mortality decline could translate to tens of thousands of lives saved if RTS,S, which WHO approved for widespread use in 2021, is more broadly deployed: In 2021, malaria killed an estimated 468,000 children under age 5 in sub-Saharan Africa. Seventeen countries in the region have already won approval to receive doses that will start to roll out next year.

This vaccine is only moderately effective:

In clinical trial results published in 2015, RTS,S showed 36.3% efficacy against clinical malaria a median of 4 years after toddlers were vaccinated.

Some possible side-effects seem to be ruled out:

Giving RTS,S to 5-month-olds to 24-month-olds did not hurt the uptake of other childhood vaccines, which had been a concern. And it didn’t cause a decline in bed net use due to a false sense of security.

Also, the WHO has approved a second malaria vaccine that should be easier to make.

The vaccine will be rolled out in some African countries, including Burkina Faso, Ghana and Nigeria in early 2024, and will be available in mid-2024 in other countries, Tedros said, adding that doses would cost between $2 and $4.