WHO Approves First-Ever Malaria Vaccine
A Kenyan Child receives a shot of the malaria vaccine during a clinical trial (Creative Commons)
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The World Health Organization (WHO) approved the first-ever vaccine for malaria on October 6. The Mosquirix vaccine, dubbed a “game-changer” by Africa’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, will offer a new tool in the fight against one of the world’s most prolific and deadly diseases.
Created by scientists at GlaxoSmithKline, the work to produce the vaccine has been three decades in the making. Parasites are notoriously difficult to prevent via vaccination, and the Mosquirix vaccine represents the first-ever WHO-approved vaccine against a parasitic disease. The four-shot vaccine, targeted at children, has only moderate efficacy, preventing about 30 percent of severe cases.
The vaccine, while substantially lower in efficacy compared to other childhood vaccines (such as measles and chickenpox), could still be a powerful tool in saving lives given the extent of malaria’s scourge. Malaria killed more than 400,000 people in 2019 of an estimated 229 million cases. More than half of these deaths were under the age of 5, and 94 percent of the cases occurred in Africa. The mosquito-borne disease has proven to be a difficult enemy to fight; despite having a fairly low mortality rate, it can infect the same person several times, weakening their immune system.
Malaria also contributes to poverty in sub-Saharan Africa by causing sickness in young people with high productivity potential, costing Africa an estimated $12 billion in economic output each year. Fortunately, efforts at providing bednets and other malaria treatments have cut the number of deaths from malaria in half since 2000. However, this progress has been stalling in recent years.
The Mosquirix vaccine is likely to be added to child immunization programs across sub-Saharan Africa in the coming months and could revitalize the fight to lower malaria caseloads. Recent research shows that the Mosquirix vaccine could save 24,000 lives annually and avert 5.3 million cases if rolled out to 30 million people at the greatest risk. The WHO’s regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, stated that the vaccine offers hope for, “the continent which shoulders the heaviest burden of the disease.”
This progress against malaria will only increase with more scientific advancements. Researchers are already working on ways to tweak the Mosquirix vaccine to increase its efficacy. Other malaria vaccines are also in the pipeline, including the R21 vaccine, which showed a promising 77 percent efficacy in its phase 2 clinical trial.