Bharat Biotech to make WHO-backed GSK malaria vaccine
08 Oct 2021 15:54:20
New Delhi, October 8: WHO has approved the first vaccine that can help prevent malaria and is being developed by British drug maker, GlaxoSmithKline / GSK.
However, the disease still kills more than 4,00,000 people every year, most of them in Africa. Even a partially effective vaccine could, therefore, be a lifesaver for many.
The vaccine - Mosquirix, has been tried out on over 8 lakh children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi. These studies indicated that inoculation led to a 30% reduction in severe malaria. This success rate indicates a huge breakthrough in the malaria research - a field determined by many years of failure of vaccine candidates in clinical trials.
Estimates show that Mosquirix is cost-effective in areas of moderate-high transmission of the disease, which is a plus point as malaria is most contagious in low / middle-income countries. The vaccine is also a significant intervention given that WHO estimates that climate change can worsen challenges posed by it.
The malaria parasite has found ways to evade defences of humans. The pathogen has more than 5,000 genes, making it adept at disabling the immune system in a number of ways. The parasite can strike the same person several times. Studies in Africa show that a large number of children get malaria more than once a year. Even when the disease is not fatal, repeated malaria attacks weaken immunity and leave a victim vulnerable to other diseases.
However, the disease still kills more than 4,00,000 people every year, most of them in Africa. Even a partially effective vaccine could, therefore, be a lifesaver for many.
Malaria is transmitted through bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. This disease causes fever, chills, and flu-like illness. Without treatment, patients may develop severe complications and can be fatal. According to UN health agency, children under the age of 5 are the most vulnerable group affected by malaria.
According to WHO estimate, almost half of the world's population was at risk of the mosquito-borne disease in 2019, with most of the cases and deaths occurring in sub-Saharan Africa.
There is still a long way to go before Mosquirix finds a place in inoculation programmes of malaria-affected countries. With Covid being the main priority for vaccine producers, experts say that it could be at least a year before the vaccine will be out. But the pandemic has taught the global health community valuable lessons in public health management. These should be used to facilitate an early rollout of the Mosquirix.