Malaria vaccine poised for next stage

Human trials of a vaccine for malaria have been shown to be a success.

Presentations of a study of children given the drug in Tanzania and Kenya were presented to the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene on Monday.

They showed a 53 per cent reduction in malaria risk among children aged between 17 months and five years over an eight month follow-up period.

Infants who were given three doses of RTS.S/AS over a six month period showed a 65 per cent resistance to malaria.

The drug was also shown not to interfere with the efficiency of other immunisations for other childhood diseases.

Co-inventor of the vaccine at GlaxoSmithKline Joe Cohen said: "We can begin to foresee the difference this scientific breakthrough could make in the lives of millions of African children who suffer and die from this disease year after year."

The most common forms of protection against malaria are insecticide treated bed nets, to ward against the mosquitoes that carry the disease, and artemisin combination therapy.

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