{"id":105009,"date":"2021-05-05T11:05:16","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T05:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=105009"},"modified":"2021-05-06T12:03:03","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T06:33:03","slug":"new-malaria-vaccine-can-be-a-game-changer-in-curtailing-malaria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/new-malaria-vaccine-can-be-a-game-changer-in-curtailing-malaria\/","title":{"rendered":"New Malaria Vaccine Can be a Game Changer in Curtailing Malaria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><b>Synopsis<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400; color: #000000;\">Phase 2b clinical trials of R21\/Matrix M (<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/new-malaria-vaccine-can-be-a-game-changer-in-curtailing-malaria\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a new malaria vaccine<\/a>) have shown the efficacy of 77%. It is a new version of RTS, S \u2014 another candidate against malaria. Experts believe that this new version could be a game-changer in curtailing the spread of malaria across the globe, especially during pandemic times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><b>Background<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The results of phase 2b clinical trials of R21\/Matrix M were published recently in the Lancet Journal.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new malaria vaccine showed an efficacy of 77%, much higher than its previous version named RTS,S.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table style=\"width: 100%; height: 336px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 336px;\">\n<td style=\"height: 336px;\">\n<h5><b>About Malaria<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Firstly, it is caused by the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito if the mosquito itself is infected with a malarial parasite.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Secondly, there are <\/span><b>five kinds of malarial parasites<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax (the commonest ones), Plasmodium malariae, Plasmodium ovale, and Plasmodium knowlesi.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thirdly, according to the World Malaria Report 2020, cases of Malaria in <\/span><b>India <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dropped from about 20 million in 2000 to about <\/span><b>5.6 million in 2019.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fourthly, globally 39 countries have declared themselves Malaria free.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As per WHO, a country can be declared malaria-free when it reports zero indigenous cases of malaria for 3 or more years.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h5><b>About the Previous Version<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RTS, S has been in development for more than 30 years. It is a joint work of Walter Reed Institute of Research, GlaxoSmithKline, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It targets the liver stage protein of the Plasmodium falciparum life cycle.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thus, it stops the Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite from entering the liver thereby preventing the subsequent deadly blood stages.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To date, it is the only vaccine to reduce malaria in children. However, it doesn\u2019t have high efficacy.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>About the new version:<\/b><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">R21\/Matrix M is a modified version of RTS, S.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scientists at the University of Oxford have been developing it for the last 6-7years. Serum Institute of India is manufacturing it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The vaccine trial began in 2014-15 on 450 children in Burkina Faso.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The result of the phase 2b trial showed a 77% efficacy. This made it the first vaccine to reach WHO\u2019s goal of at least 75% efficacy.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Need of New Malaria Vaccine<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><b>High Incidence of Malaria:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> In 2019, there were an estimated 229 million cases of malaria and 409 000 malaria-related deaths in 87 countries. In the same year, India witnessed 5.6 million cases.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under 5 children in sub-saharan Africa accounted for approximately two-thirds of global deaths.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Greater Hardships posed by Pandemic: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As per a WHO survey, approximately one-third of countries around the world reported disruptions in malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment services during the first quarter of 2021.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Disruptions occurred as people were unable or unwilling to seek care in health facilities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Further lockdowns and restrictions on the movement led to delays in the delivery of insecticide-treated mosquito nets.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>What\u2019s next?<\/b><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Serum Institute of India and US vaccine maker Novavax have begun the process of phase 3 trials in 4 African countries.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This would assess large-scale safety and efficacy in 4,800 children aged five to 36 months.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The success of the trial would enable bulk production of the vaccine that would help curtail malaria across the globe.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/why-a-malaria-vaccine-candidate-has-raised-new-hope-and-what-went-into-its-making-7300888\/\">Indian Express<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Synopsis: Phase 2b clinical trials of R21\/Matrix M (a new malaria vaccine) have shown the efficacy of 77%. It is a new version of RTS, S \u2014 another candidate against malaria. Experts believe that this new version could be a game-changer in curtailing the spread of malaria across the globe, especially during pandemic times.\u00a0 Background:&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/new-malaria-vaccine-can-be-a-game-changer-in-curtailing-malaria\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">New Malaria Vaccine Can be a Game Changer in Curtailing Malaria<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,8043,9],"tags":[1315,1289],"class_list":["post-105009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-current-affairs-cat","category-public","tag-st_1","tag-soc_0","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704880844},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105009\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}