Malaria, a devastating disease that kills hundreds of thousands of people each year, has just suffered another blow with the authorization of a second vaccine for children. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently gave the green light to this vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, which was deemed safe and effective by vaccination experts.
This new vaccine is in addition to the existing one, RTS,S, which was recommended by the WHO in 2021. These two vaccines have a similar effectiveness rate of around 75% and are intended to prevent malaria in children living in areas at high risk of disease transmission.
Malaria, also known as malaria, is caused by a parasite transmitted by mosquitoes. It causes symptoms such as fever, headache and chills, and can progress to a serious or even fatal condition if left untreated. In 2021, this disease caused the death of 619,000 people worldwide, mainly in Africa.
With the authorization of this second vaccine, the WHO hopes to allow greater availability of these serums for countries facing this scourge. Unicef and the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) will be responsible for administering these vaccines, once the regulatory aspects are finalized.
According to estimates from the WHO and its partners, up to 60 million vaccine doses could be requested each year by 2026, with the figure reaching 100 million by 2030. These figures demonstrate the scale of the problem and the need to put in place effective preventive measures.
In addition to the malaria vaccine, other advances have been made recently in the field of vaccination. WHO experts have recommended a new vaccine against dengue fever, a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes, as well as a vaccine against meningitis, a serious bacterial infection. These advances demonstrate the importance of research in the field of vaccination and its crucial role in the prevention of infectious diseases.
In conclusion, the authorization of a second malaria vaccine for children is a major step forward in the fight against this disease. This vaccine, combined with other prevention measures such as the use of insecticide-treated bed nets and mosquito control, could help significantly reduce the impact of malaria in the most affected regions. It is a hope for the millions of people who live in constant fear of this deadly disease.