WHO has approved the massive use of the world's first malaria vaccine, RTS, S, which will be distributed under the name Mosquirix. Work on the drug has been in progress for over thirty years.
Malaria is an infection caused by a single-celled parasite of the Plasmodium genus. The most common pathogen is Plasmodium falsciparum, which contributes to the development of the most severe form of the disease with a large number of complications, in most cases leading to death. According to the WHO, in 2019, 229 million people were infected with malaria around the globe, of which 409 thousand died. The most vulnerable category to infection is children under 5 years old; in 2019, 2/3 of the total number of deaths happened to them. At the same time, the disease was most widespread that year in Africa, where 94% of the cases of infections and deaths were recorded.
The final stage of testing the Mosquirix drug has been going on since 2019. More than 800,000 children participated in it in Ghana, Malawi and Kenya. The drug showed rather moderate results - it prevented infection in only 39% of cases and in 29% of cases reduced the risk of a severe course of the disease. However, in conjunction with other drugs for malaria, protection from severe form and death reached 70%.
Malaria is an infection caused by a single-celled parasite of the Plasmodium genus. The most common pathogen is Plasmodium falsciparum, which contributes to the development of the most severe form of the disease with a large number of complications, in most cases leading to death. According to the WHO, in 2019, 229 million people were infected with malaria around the globe, of which 409 thousand died. The most vulnerable category to infection is children under 5 years old; in 2019, 2/3 of the total number of deaths happened to them. At the same time, the disease was most widespread that year in Africa, where 94% of the cases of infections and deaths were recorded.
The final stage of testing the Mosquirix drug has been going on since 2019. More than 800,000 children participated in it in Ghana, Malawi and Kenya. The drug showed rather moderate results - it prevented infection in only 39% of cases and in 29% of cases reduced the risk of a severe course of the disease. However, in conjunction with other drugs for malaria, protection from severe form and death reached 70%.
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