Malaria Vaccine

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Malaria booster vaccine shows up to 80 per cent efficacy: Lancet study

About the vaccine:

• R21/Matrix M is a modified version of RTS, S.
• The vaccine trial began in 2014-15 on 450 children in Burkina Faso. 

• R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine is licensed to Serum Institute of India.
• In 2021, University of Oxford reported findings – the vaccine demonstrated efficacy of 77% over 12-months of follow-up.
• This vaccine is the first to meet the World Health Organization’s Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap goal of a vaccine with at least 75% efficacy
• Study involved 450 participants aged 5 to 17 months and recently reported an efficacy of over 80%.

Malaria:

• Firstly, it is caused by the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito if the mosquito itself is infected with a malarial parasite.
• Secondly, there are five kinds of malarial parasites — Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax (the commonest ones), Plasmodium malariae, Plasmodium ovale, and Plasmodium knowlesi.
• Thirdly, according to the World Malaria Report 2020, cases of Malaria in India dropped from about 20 million in 2000 to about 5.6 million in 2019.
• Fourthly, globally 39 countries have declared themselves Malaria free. 
• As per WHO, a country can be declared malaria-free when it reports zero indigenous cases of malaria for 3 or more years.
• Symptoms include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. Symptoms usually begin ten to fifteen days after being bitten by an infected mosquito.