Malaria Vaccine For Children

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Researchers at the Jenner Institute at Oxford University have developed the first, low-cost, vaccine for malaria. It is now being rolled out to children under the age of 5 in Ivory Coast and South Sudan. It is called the R21/Matrix-M vaccine. The vaccine is supposed to be 75% effective in preventing malaria in children who have been bitten by malaria-carrying mosquitos.

Getting the cost down to about $4 was the key as even $10 was considered too expensive by many of the countries where it is most needed.

This vaccine is not approved yet in the US.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9r3xxv1n5qo

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/...Africa-eradicate-killer-mosquito-illness.html

The GAVI network is sponsoring this rollout. With regard to a similar vaccine for adults, these are in the test phase. Sir Adrian Hill who lead the research into the development of the R21 vaccine said,

“If travellers can afford to go to Africa, they can generally afford to buy antimalarial drugs and take them prophylactically, which they already should be doing.”​