Malaria vaccine can reduce risk of infection

The first anti-malaria vaccine can reduce the risk of infection from the disease, according to results of a trial among 306 men in Basse area, Upper River Division of The Gambia. A news release from The Gambia's Medical Research Council (MRC) said on Friday half the men received the malaria vaccine called, RTSS. The remaining half received a different vaccine (rabies) that is known to have no effect on malaria. According to the release those who received RTSS, got three doses before the malaria transmission season in 1998, and then a booster dose a year later. They were checked for malaria infection every week and those who fell sick were treated at the MRC. "The trials showed that the risk of infection was reduced in those who received the RTSS malaria vaccine. Investigators estimated that vaccine efficacy in the first year was 34 percent, and in the second year after a booster dose, 47 percent. "This means that a vaccinated person has a reduced chance of developing a malaria infection when bitten by an infected mosquito. But protection is currently only partial so vaccinated people may still develop malaria, particularly if they are frequently exposed to infected mosquito bites," the release reported Paul Mulligan, a statistician at the MRC as saying. "These results are important because they show that a vaccine developed from a single laboratory strain of malaria parasite can protect against the genetically diverse range of malaria parasites that people are exposed to," he added. The MRC investigators say the RTSS vaccine is safe. With the support of the Malaria Vaccine Initiative in the United States, the team is assessing the safety of the vaccine in children in preparation for further trials. "The results are encouraging and bring us closer to an effective vaccine against malaria," the release quoted Kalifa Bojang, a scientist at MRC's malaria research programme as saying. "The malaria cases seen in health facilities represent only a fraction of the total burden of disease. A child's condition can deteriorate very rapidly, the majority of children who die from malaria die at home before they can receive adequate treatment," Bojang added. "Malaria is one of Gambia's major public health problems," Margaret Pinder, head of the Malaria Programme, told IRIN on Friday. She said the disease kills more than 1,000 children in the country every year. The RTSS vaccine was developed by the pharmaceutical company Glaxo- Smithkline Biologicals and has been extensively tested in the US and Belgium, the release said.