Malaria vaccine shows promising preliminary results

Malaria killed more than 780,000 people in the world in 2009. The World Health Organization estimates that the mosquito-born disease is the leading cause of death for children in Africa, accounting for one in five deaths of children on that continent. Now researchers conducting preliminary tests of the first malaria vaccine have found encouraging initial results.

"Three doses of the vaccine cut roughly in half the risk of developing malaria in children five months to 17 months old, according to interim results of a clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine," the Wall Street Journal's Betsy McKay and Jean Whalen reported Wednesday. However, they added, researchers involved with the study cautioned that "additional data ... are [still] needed to declare the vaccine effective."

The results were announced Tuesday at a conference of malaria experts and policymakers in Seattle, Washington, the home of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that has donated more than $1.75 billion to eradicating the disease. The Gates' donations have partially funded research and development of the malaria vaccine.

"The data from the vaccine, known as RTS,S, are the first to be released from a clinical trial of 15,460 children at 11 test sites in seven African countries," the Journal reported. "The findings indicate that a vaccine can protect humans from a disease caused by a parasite, not only a bacterium or virus, the usual targets of a vaccine."

"Nearly $500 million has been spent developing the vaccine by the Gates Foundation, Glaxo and the U.S. government," McKay and Whalen wrote. They go on to cite Gates saying if the vaccine "continues to show a long-term effect in the 40-50 percent range, then it has the potential to protect millions of children and save thousands of lives."

The World Health Organization estimates that in Africa, "a child dies every 45 seconds of malaria and the disease accounts for approximately 20% of all childhood deaths."

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