Thought of the Day - April 28 2021 - A New Vaccine

We need to be reminded from time to time that COVID is not the only serious communicable disease out there. Last year it is estimated that malaria killed 400,000 people in Africa more than twice as many as died from COVID on the continent.

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through mosquito bites. The illness starts with symptoms such as fever, headaches and chills and, without treatment, can progress quickly to severe illness and often death.

I remember when travelling to Tanzania fifteen years ago, we visited a Masai village (long story). I was surprised to see a sleeping bag lying out in the mid-day sun. We were told there was a person inside who was thought to have malaria fever, and that that they were sweating out - one of the standard "treatments" for the disease.

Up until now, there has been no vaccine for malaria. However, last week the University of Oxford announced its malaria vaccine, called R21, has proved to be 77% effective in early trials and could be a major breakthrough against the disease.

The trials of this malaria vaccine candidate started in 2019, long before coronavirus appeared - and the Oxford team developed its COVID vaccine (with AstraZeneca) in part on the strength of its research into malaria. A malaria vaccine has taken much longer to come to fruition because there are thousands of genes in malaria compared to around a dozen in coronavirus, and a very high immune response is needed to fight off the disease.

When trialled in 450 children in Burkina Faso, the vaccine was found to be safe, and showed "high-level efficacy" over 12 months of follow-up. Larger trials in nearly 5,000 children between the ages of five months and three years will now be carried out across four African countries to confirm the findings.

The Serum Institute of India that manufactures the vaccine candidate, says it is confident of delivering more than 200 million doses of the vaccine as soon as it is approved by regulators. Novavax provided the adjuvant for the vaccine, an ingredient that is used to create a stronger immune response.

Looks like the same crew have other irons in the fire. Hopefully, they strike it rich with this one.

Cheers

Cliff