Malaria vaccine could save millions of children's lives
Researchers 'on the cusp' of a vaccine after widescale African trial shows the risk of malaria cut in half
With Malaria being one of the many illnesses that take the lives of millions of children across seven African countries, many scientific researchers have been working tirelessly in order to find a cure or vaccine for this virus. Malaria, a disease that affects the brain, kidneys and the blood and has a severe potential to kill a child or baby. With this being said, the answer to this large-scale social problem is on the verge of being solved thanks to research conducted in a wide scale African trial that showed it cut the risk of a child coming down with Malaria to be cut in half. This study, involving 15,460 babies and small children, the conclusive trial revealed that the risk of obtaining this deadly disease was significantly lower than previous attempts to vaccinate for Malaria. With the creator of this drug, GlaxoSmithKline, revealing that they would not sell the drug for anything over the production cost, this vaccine would be available at a cheap rate that would allow for a very large portion of the country to be able to purchase it.
Malaria, in many African countries, has been a wide-scale social problem over the last few centuries. With Malaria being one of the worst viruses in these regions of the African continent, many lives will be saved and children will be given a chance to live life without running the risk of getting Malaria. With this vaccine being able to be used, researchers believe that the vaccine will decrease ones risk of getting the virus by over 80%. This vaccine could potentially be one of the closest breakthroughs in scientific research that will save millions of lives a year.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/oct/18/malaria-vaccine-save-millions-children
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