Malaria: New vaccine proves 100% effective

[Mirror]

•Scientists say it is first in history

United States scientists have announced a significant breakthrough in the fight against malaria after a human trial of a new vaccine was 100 per cent effective against the disease for the first time in history.

According to reports in Mailonline, more than three dozen volunteers were given multiple doses of a vaccine produced with a weakened form of the mosquito-borne disease that kills around one million people a year.

And their results were promising: The monthslong trial was 100 per cent successful in protecting all of the subjects who received the strongest dose of the vaccine.

The results, which suggest scientists could be nearing eliminating the disease, were released by researchers from the National Institutes of Health, the Navy, Army and other organisations Thursday.

The vaccine, named Pf- SPZ, is made from weakened sporozoites which is the form of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum when it's in an infectious state, CNN reported on Thursday.

For the trial, the samples of the parasite were weakened by radiation and then frozen – but it remained in its whole form, which invoked a response of the patients' immune system.

In total, 57 people took part in the trial, with 40 receiving some dose of the vaccine. All were then bitten by infectious mosquitoes and scientists tested if they had developed the disease after a week. The six subjects who were given five intravenous doses of PfSPZ were entirely protected, with none becoming infected with the disease, the scientists announced in their findings.

Other results were promising but not watertight. Of the nine who received four doses of the vaccine, three became infected, but of 12 who received no vaccine, 11 tested positive for the disease.

The people who were infected were then treated with an anti-malarial drug. None of the participants, who all took part in the study between October 2011 and October 2012, had any side effects from the new vaccine.

Though the results were promising, greater testing is needed and, if this is successful, they said it will be years before the drug could be used in communities where it is required.

Dr. William Schaffner, head of the preventive medicine department at Vanderbilt University's medical school, said it was 'a scientific advance' – but that it could be as many as 10 years before the vaccine can be scientifically proven, approved and distributed, CNN reported.

'This is not a vaccine that's ready for travellers to the developing world anytime soon,' he told CNN. 'However, from the point of view of science dealing with one of the big-three infectious causes of death around the world, it's a notable advance. And everybody will be holding their breath, watching to see whether this next trial works and how well it works.'

He added that while the multiple, intravenous injections seemed a very cumbersome way to administer the vaccine 'desperate times call for desperate measures'.

The focus now needs to be on larger groups in conditions where the disease is likely to be developed and tests need to be carried out on how effective the vaccine is over time, he said. 'We don't know how long this protection lasts yet. Lots of questions remain,' he said.

'But that should not diminish the fact that this is a scientific advance.' The vaccine was produced by Maryland Company Sanaria Inc. and tested by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the Naval Medical Research Center.

National Mirror