CISM researcher Pedro Aide said, "The results of the second phase of vaccine trials, which have just come to an end, showed its capacity to reduce new infections in children by 65 percent."
Aide said, "We hope that the tests run from 2008 to 2011 confirm the efficacy of the vaccine and prove the non-toxicity of the product. More than ten thousand children from five African countries would be selected for the third and final testing phase."
In the study, 214 infants, between 10 and 18 weeks old, from a malaria-endemic region of Mozambique, participated in the first and second phase trials which assessed the toxicity of the vaccine. In both trials, the vaccine was found safe.
The RTS,S/AS02D was first created in 1987. Its aim is to delay malaria infections in young children by inducing an immune response to prevent the malaria parasite from infecting the liver. Thus, when they get infected, they have a better chance of surviving the disease.
The vaccine was developed by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals of Belgium and jointly conducted the trials with the University of Barcelona, Spain, Mozambique's Health Ministry and Eduardo Mondlane University, and the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) in Maryland.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 800 thousand children below the age of five die from malaria each year.
