According to the British scientists that created it, a new vaccine might cut malaria mortality by 70% by 2030.
The forecast was made after clinical studies in Africa revealed that the vaccine, known as R21/Matrix-M, was particularly successful in protecting youngsters, who are disproportionately affected by the mosquito-borne disease.
The results will be submitted to the World Health Organization later this month, and a factory has been identified to generate 200 million doses every year. They may be less than £5 apiece.
“This is incredibly intriguing,” said Professor Adrian Hill, head of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford, who conducted the research.
He went on to add that “People have been trying to make malaria vaccines for over a century. Around 140 different malaria vaccines have gone into arms. “We think these data are the best yet of any malaria vaccine.”
More than 40 million children reside in Sub-Saharan Africa, where malaria transmission is high or moderate.
Researchers administered 3 doses 4 weeks apart, with a booster at 12 months, to 409 young children in Burkina Faso in the new experiment, which was reported in the Lancet Infectious Diseases.
A year later, the results revealed that it averted 80% of malaria cases.
According to the scientists, the sole alternative malaria vaccine, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, is 44% effective over a year.
