Malaria Vaccine Has WHO Support: “Historical Moments”

London — The World Health Organization should approve the world’s first malaria vaccine on Wednesday and give it to children across Africa in the hope of spurring a deadlocked effort to curb the spread of parasitic diseases. I said that.

WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adanom Gebreyes called it a “historical moment” after a meeting where two of the UN Health Organization’s expert advisory groups recommended this step.

“Today’s recommendations provide a faint light of hope for the continents that carry the heaviest burden of illness, and hope that more African children will be protected from malaria and grow into healthy adults. I’m looking forward to it, “said Dr. Machidi Somoeti, WHO’s Africa Director.

WHO said the decision was based primarily on the results of ongoing studies in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, tracking more than 800,000 children vaccinated since 2019.

The vaccine, known as Mosquirix, was developed by GlaxoSmithKline in 1987. It was first approved, but faces challenges. The vaccine is about 30% effective, requires up to 4 doses, and weakens protection after a few months. ..

Still, scientists say vaccines can have a significant impact on malaria in Africa. In Africa, more than 200 million cases occur worldwide and 400,000 people die annually.

“This is a big step forward,” said Julian Rayner, director of the Cambridge Medical Institute, which was not part of the WHO decision. “This is an incomplete vaccine, but it can still prevent hundreds of thousands of children from dying.”

Reiner said the effects of the vaccine on the spread of mosquito-borne diseases are still unknown, but pointed out a promising example of what was developed for the coronavirus.

“In the last two years, we have gained a very subtle understanding of how important vaccines are in saving lives and reducing hospitalizations, even if they do not directly reduce infections,” he said. rice field.

Dr. Alejandro Clavioto, head of the WHO vaccine group who made the recommendations, said malaria is a parasite disease that is endemic to mosquitoes, making it particularly difficult to design injections for malaria.

“We are facing a very complex creature,” he said. “We haven’t yet reached a very effective vaccine, but now we have a deployable and safe vaccine.”

The WHO said side effects were rare, but it could also include fever, which can cause temporary seizures.

Sian Clarke, co-director of the London School of Economics and Tropical Medicine’s Malaria Center, said the vaccine is another tool for diseases that may have exhausted its usefulness after decades of use, such as mosquito nets and pesticides. Said it would be a useful addition to. ..

“In a very hot country, children are just sleeping outside and cannot be protected by a bed net,” Clark says. “So, even if they are obviously vaccinated, they are still protected.”

According to Clark, little progress has been made in recent years on malaria.

“Now, if you want to reduce the burden of illness, you need something else,” she explained.

Infectious disease chairman at Imperial College London said that vaccination of African children with malaria vaccines is expected to reduce overall by 30%, with up to 8 million cases per person and deaths. Is estimated to decrease by 40,000. Year.

“For those who do not live in malaria countries, the 30% reduction may not sound like much, but for those who live in these areas, malaria is one of their greatest concerns.” Said Ghani. “A 30% reduction will save many lives and save the mother from taking her child to a health center and overwhelming the health system.”

We hope that WHO guidance will be the “first step” in making a better malaria vaccine. She added that efforts to produce a second-generation malaria vaccine may be boosted by the messenger RNA technology used in the production of Pfizer’s two most successful COVID-19 vaccines, BioNTech and Moderna.

“MRNA vaccines show much higher antibody levels, which can also be adapted very quickly,” said Ghani, who said BioNTech has recently begun research into the potential for malaria injection. “It’s impossible to say how it affects malaria vaccines, but we absolutely need new options to combat it.”