{"id":27517,"date":"2021-10-07T13:34:13","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T13:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cmshub.wpengine.com\/?p=357330"},"modified":"2024-11-03T15:14:27","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T15:14:27","slug":"malaria-vaccine-approved-by-w-h-o-could-save-tens-of-thousands-of-children-a-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/malaria-vaccine-approved-by-w-h-o-could-save-tens-of-thousands-of-children-a-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Malaria Vaccine Approved by W.H.O. Could Save Tens Of Thousands Of Children A Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Malaria is one of the oldest, most infectious, and most deadly diseases in the world. With the discovery of a new Malaria vaccine, it\u2019s also targeted for eradication.<\/span><\/p>\n

Spread by the ubiquitous mosquito, Malaria disease kills nearly half a million people, including 260,000 children under 5, in sub-Saharan Africa every year. Malaria has continued to claim lives well into 2021, but this may be the year we see the death toll begin to fall rapidly, thanks to the new vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline, now approved by the World Health Organization.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the New York Times<\/a>, in children the vaccine helps the immune system fight off Plasmodium falciparum, which is the most prevalent of five malaria pathogens in Africa, and the most deadly.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Malaria<\/span>
Malaria is a parasitic disease spread by mosquitoes.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAs some of you may know, I started my career as a malaria researcher, and I longed for the day that we would have an effective vaccine against this ancient and terrible disease,\u201d writes Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization\u2019s director general. \u201cAnd today is that day \u2014 an historic day. Today, W.H.O. is recommending the broad use of the world\u2019s first malaria vaccine. This recommendation is based on results from an ongoing pilot program in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi that has reached more than 800,000 children since 2019. This long-awaited malaria vaccine is a breakthrough for science, child health and malaria control. Using this vaccine, in addition to existing tools to prevent malaria, could save tens of thousands of young lives each year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mosquirix is the first vaccine of its kind developed for any parasitic disease, which are much harder to treat than those caused by bacteria.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Mosquito<\/span>
Mosquito nets are used to keep insects away while children sleep.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a huge jump from the science perspective to have a first-generation vaccine against a human parasite,\u201d said Dr. Pedro Alonso, Director of the W.H.O. Global Malaria Programme.<\/span><\/p>\n

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We can do better with the tools we have to fight @malaria<\/a>. Adding a first @malaria<\/a> @vaccine<\/a> to the armamentarium offers the possibility to safe 10s of thousands of life\u2019s pic.twitter.com\/SQwFe7LrOV<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 Pedro L. Alonso (@PAlonsoMalaria) October 7, 2021<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThe vaccine was created in 1987 and began pilot implementation in endemic countries in 2019,\u201d reads a study of the vaccine published in Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics<\/a>. \u201cThis first-generation malaria vaccine demonstrates modest efficacy against malaria illness and holds promise as a public health tool, especially for children in high-transmission areas where mortality is high.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/span>
A Malaria vaccine has been approved by the World Health Organization.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Children who are repeatedly sick are at risk of stunted development, said Alejandro Cravioto, chairman of WHO\u2019s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, one of the expert groups advising the W.H.O. on the Malaria vaccine.<\/span><\/p>\n