,,,,,,,,,,The WHO has recommended a second malaria vaccine for children which is already approved for use in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Nigeria https://t.co/YsWvRE8BRe pic.twitter.com/Rii4hXGgHj
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 2, 2023
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended a second malaria vaccine, a decision that could offer countries a cheaper and a more readily available option than the world’s first shot against the parasitic disease. The R21/Matrix-M, developed by Britain’s Oxford University, can be used to curb the life-threatening disease spread to humans by some mosquitoes, the WHO said on Monday.
Oxford University developed the new three-dose vaccine with help from the Serum Institute of India. Research has suggested it is more than 75 percent effective and protection is maintained for at least another year with a booster.
Lancet article Sept 2022:
vaccine efficacy against clinical malaria was 36% in infants aged 5–17 months and 26% in infants aged 6–12 weeks after four doses of the vaccine.other questions about the approval: This study was done on a very small number of children.Between June 2, and July 2, 2020, 409 children returned to receive a booster vaccine. Each child received the same vaccination for the booster as they received in the primary series of vaccinations; 132 participants received 5 μg R21 adjuvanted with 25 μg Matrix-M, 137 received 5 μg R21 adjuvanted with 50 μg Matrix-M, and 140 received the control vaccine.
Between June 2, and July 2, 2020, 409 children returned to receive a booster vaccine. Each child received the same vaccination for the booster as they received in the primary series of vaccinations; 132 participants received 5 μg R21 adjuvanted with 25 μg Matrix-M, 137 received 5 μg R21 adjuvanted with 50 μg Matrix-M, and 140 received the control vaccine.
so the efficency was judged how?
Vaccine safety, efficacy, and a potential correlate of efficacy with immunogenicity, measured as anti-NANP antibody titres,
oh. antibody titers.
this article seems to be about the booster.
In the high-dose adjuvant group, vaccine efficacy against multiple episodes of malaria was 78% (95% CI 71 to 83), and 2285 (95% CI 1911 to 2568) cases of malaria were averted per 1000 child-years at risk among vaccinated children in the second year of follow-up
those were not actual numbers but extrapolated from the 400 in the study?
statistical tables show 24 percent of the kids got malaria, vs 63 percent in control groups.
Efficacy was further assessed at 24 months (range 660–731 days) following the primary series of vaccinations, where 280 participants had at least one episode of clinical malaria. All of these participants received a booster dose before the second malaria season, approximately 12 months following the primary series of vaccinations. These malaria episodes were recorded in 82 of 132 participants in group 1, 70 of 137 in group 2, and 128 of 140 participants in group 3 (the control group)
Three serious adverse events were reported in participants (appendix 2 p 5) after the booster vaccination up to 12 months follow-up. All were deemed unrelated to vaccination. These serious adverse events all resolved and comprised severe malaria with pneumonia, severe malnutrition with anaemia, and bacterial meningitis.
severe malnutrition? One wonders if maybe starting a nutrition program might be needed.
I should note that they had lots of nice data about using mosquito nets, spraying and taking medicine in the groups so these things were not neglected
the malaria they are talking about is the Falciparum type, which is more virulent and kills people via cerebral malaria. Alas, this germ has developed resistance to anti malarial medicines so there is a need for a vaccine.
The problem? This is not a good vaccine.
And in an area with a high childhood morality from other things (diarrhea, respiratory diseases) one looks in vain for the number of kids who died during the study these other diseases.
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