Malaria: R21 malaria vaccine gets NAFDAC approval for immediate use – Wetin to know about am

New Informate After 3 hours

The National Food and Drug Administration’s Nafdac grants provisional approval for Nigeria to begin using the R21 malaria vaccine.

The approval of the vaccine manufactured by India’s Serum Institute makes Nigeria the second country after Ghana to approve the product.

Executive Director Professor Christianah Adeeye also explained that the review panel has accepted a vaccine that is 75% effective in protecting against malaria.

She added that the potential benefits of the vaccine outweigh any potential risks they knew.

Nigeria expects to donate at least 100,000 doses of the vaccine shortly before market authorization begins, and has an ODA arrangement with the National Primary Health Care Development Authority (NPHCDA).

She says she plans to use the vaccine to prevent clinical malaria in children aged 5 to 36 months.

The storage temperature of the vaccine is 2-8°C.

Nafdac is committed to ensuring that only safe, high-quality and well-functioning products are available to Nigerians.

Malaria is one of the world’s most important public health concerns.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Malaria Report 2021, Nigeria leads the world in malaria deaths.

According to the WHO-titled Global Malaria Report 2022, Nigeria accounts for 31.3% of all malaria deaths worldwide, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo accounts for 12.6%.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo and the United Republic of Tanzania are below 4.1%, with Niger in fourth place at 3.9%.

These four contris are said to be responsible for 51.9% of all malaria deaths worldwide.

According to the report, WHO records 247 million cases of malaria worldwide in 2021, with an estimated 619,000 deaths from the disease.

WHO also called for reports that 95% of malaria cases in 2021 will occur in Africa, with a 96% mortality rate in the same year.

In Africa, children under the age of five account for about 80% of malaria deaths.

Global malaria cases in 2021 will be higher than 245 million in 2020, but malaria deaths in 2021 will be lower than 625,000 in 2020.

“Halima was my first child, born on September 20, 2019 and passed away on March 4, 2020. Every day goes by without me thinking about her.”

This is the story of a mother named Zahraw Mustafa from Kano in northwestern Nigeria.

In an interview with BBC Pidgin, Zahrau revealed that Halima, a 5-month-old pikkin, died of malaria two years ago.

“My dream is for Halima to grow up and go to school and become a doctor, but malaria took her away from me.

“The hardest thing, and what I will always remember, is that she died in my arms on the way to the hospital.”

“She doesn’t learn Sidon anymore. Me and her play well whenever I’m home.”

She added that with Halima’s death, they should take extra precautions to protect themselves from malaria.

“After her death, we purchased extra mosquito nets, entered quickly, and bought double nets for the baby, because in our net she was in herself.” , because it always contains insecticides.”

Malaria is an acute febrile disease caused by the Plasmodium parasite. Humans become infected with malaria through the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito.

Five parasite species cause malaria in humans, two of which pose the greatest threat. Dem be P. falciparum and P. vivax.

Plasmodium falciparum is the deadliest malaria parasite and the most prevalent in Africa. Plasmodium vivax is the predominant malaria parasite in most countries outside sub-Saharan Africa.

First symptoms of malaria, fever, headache, chills. And these symptoms usually appear 10 to 15 days after being bitten by an infectious mosquito. These symptoms are not serious and are difficult to recognize as malaria.

Untreated malaria, the cause of Plasmodium falciparum, can progress to severe disease and death within 24 hours.

The R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine, manufactured by the University of Oxford and developed by the Serum Institute of India (SII), is the second and only vaccine in the world. .

This new vaccine follows the RTS,S vaccine approved by the World Health Organization in October 2021. Four doses of RTS,S vaccine reduce clinical malaria cases by 39% and severe malaria by 30%.

R21 vaccine targets first stage of parasite life cycle

When a person is bitten by an anopheles mosquito carrying malaria parasites, the parasite is sent through the bloodstream and undergoes life cycle stages. The complexity of the malaria parasite life cycle has meant that it has influenced vaccine development over the years.

The vaccine also contains Novavax Matrix-M. This is one of the ingredients that boosts the immune system’s response, making it stronger and more lasting.

Vaccines work by putting in front of our immune cells antigens, which are parts of viruses or bacteria that our system recognizes and responds to.

Ghana is the first country to approve a new malaria vaccine that the scientist who developed it has described as “changing the world”.

The Food and Drug Administration of Ghana has also approved Zi vaccine for use in children aged 5 months to 3 years.

Other African countries are also studying the data, as is the World Health Organization.

Professor Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford where the vaccine was invented, says “we will decide” after African countries lag behind in rolling out a Covid-19 vaccine during the pandemic. .

“R21 is expected to have a significant impact on childhood malaria mortality in the years to come and, in the long term, contribute to the overall end goal of malaria eradication and elimination.” for.