Pouya Rohani
10/1/2010
12:25 pm
Advanced testing of the RTS,S vaccine against the deadliest strain of malaria disease, falciparum, are going very satisfactory. However, the process is long and very time consuming. Joe Cohen inventor of the RTS,S vaccine said, “We believe we’ll have the first data coming out of the trials in 2012, and, to make a long story short, we could have the first implementation in Africa between 2015 and 2016.” Now, the vaccine is in phase III to test for its safety and effectiveness on larger populations. Seven African countries, about 16000 children, are targeted for this vaccine. The phase II test that was done on smaller scale showed that the RTS, S vaccine was effective in young children and infants 53 and 65 percent, respectively. If the vaccine passes the phase III test and is licensed, it can save the lives of many people. Malaria disease threatens lives of more than a third of people around the world especially in Africa. About two hundred people die because of Malaria every hour. The biggest challenge that exists for this vaccine is financial crisis that could effect accessibility of the vaccine for large populations.
This is really good news for all of the people around the world. It is really a big step to achieve a bigger goal to eliminate malaria once and for ever. More human and financial resources are needed to eliminate malaria disease that kills two hundred people every hour. This is an astonishing number that could be stopped. Affectivity of vaccine RTS, S is not so high based on the data that was collected from phase II, 53 or 65 percent. Even when the vaccine is licensed, it is not definite that large numbers of people could have access to the vaccine if the money is not available.
2 comments:
Kristina Reid
I'm very glad to hear that testing for the vaccine is going well. If this vaccine is licensed it would mean a great deal to countries such as Africa where malaria is a major problem. This would also be good for people who are tourist or travel often to places know for malaria.
Generally, vaccines are always a good thing. it is definitely beneficial to people who travel.
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