Malaria Vaccine

Malaria remains Africa's deadliest disease as US aid cuts hurt fight

Malaria season begins this month in a large part of Africa. No disease is deadlier on the continent, especially for children. But the Trump administration's decision to terminate 90 per cent of USAID's foreign aid contracts has local health officials warning of catastrophe in some of the world's poorest communities. Dr. Jimmy Opigo, who runs Uganda's malaria control programme, told The Associated Press that USAID stop-work orders issued in late January left him and others focusing on disaster preparedness. The US is the top bilateral funder of anti-malaria efforts in Africa. Anti-malarial medicines and insecticide-treated bed nets to help control the mosquito-borne disease are like our groceries, Opigo said. There's got to be continuous supply. As those dwindle with the US-terminated contracts, he expects a rise in cases later this year of severe malaria, which includes problems like organ failure. There is no cure. Vaccines being rolled out in parts of Africa are imperfect but are

Interim results of malaria vaccine Phase 2b trial show 'promising efficacy'

A new malaria vaccine appears to be "safe and highly immunogenic", with "promising efficacy", according to interim results of the phase 2b clinical trial conducted in African children. The vaccine candidate, named 'RH5.1/Matrix-M', is a blood-stage type, targeting the malaria-causing parasite when it is present in the blood -- the stage of the parasite's life cycle when symptoms begin to show in the affected person. The trial results were published in "The Lancet Infectious Diseases" journal. Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites, spread to humans through the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito. Symptoms usually appear in the 10-15 days following the bite, with mild symptoms being fever, chills and headache, while the severe ones can include fatigue, confusion, seizures, and difficulty in breathing. Researchers, including those at Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Sant, Burkina Faso, and the University of Oxford, UK, enrolled 361 children in the African country,

Serum Institute rolls out new high efficacy malaria vaccine in Africa

A new high efficacy malaria vaccine co-developed by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and the University of Oxford was officially rolled out on Monday when Cote d'Ivoire in West Africa became the first country to begin administering R21/Matrix-M. The vaccine, which was granted World Health Organisation (WHO) approval last year, is said to have undergone a rigorous regulatory process and clinical assessment and was found to be highly effective and affordable. As a low-dose vaccine, it can be manufactured at speed and scale which is seen as critical to stemming the spread of the mosquito-borne disease. Reducing the malaria burden is finally within sight. Today's start of the R21/Matrix-M vaccine roll-out marks a monumental milestone after years of incredible work with our partners at Oxford and Novavax, said SII CEO Adar Poonawalla. At Serum, we believe that it is every person's right to have access to affordable and essential disease prevention. That's why we have committed to ...

12% of India's eligible children received no dose of measles vaccine: Study

Nearly 12 per cent of children in India who are eligible for measles vaccination have received none of the recommended double-dose, signalling a "concerning gap" in immunisation coverage, a new study has found. The findings showed that zero-dose cases were high in the northeastern states, with Nagaland reporting the greatest share at 26 per cent. Tamil Nadu was found to report the lowest at 4.6 per cent. Researchers from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi investigated previously overlooked critical aspects of measles vaccination, focusing on zero-doses, partially vaccinated, and those fully immunised. They analysed data of over 43,000 children aged 2-3 years, collected through the National Family Health Survey 2019-21 (NFHS-5). The team found that close to 30 per cent of the eligible children have received only one measles-containing vaccine (MCV1), while about 60 per cent have been fully immunised (MCV2). The findings are published in

World Malaria Day 2024: 10 signs and symptoms of Malaria one should know

World Malaria Day 2024: Malaria is one of the deadly diseases caused by the bite of female Anopheles mosquitoes. Here are the 10 signs and symptoms everyone should know

World Malaria Day 2024: Theme, causes, symptoms, treatment and prevention

The purpose of Malaria Day is to battle this disease, address those hindrances extensively and adapt our ways to deal with the developing scenario of this sickness

UN authorises 2nd malaria vaccine, experts say not enough to stop spread

The World Health Organization has authorised a second malaria vaccine, a decision that could offer countries a cheaper and more readily available option than the world's first shot against the parasitic disease. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the UN health agency was approving the new malaria vaccine based on the advice of two expert groups, recommending its use in children at risk of the disease. As a malaria researcher, I used to dream of the day we would have a safe and effective vaccine against malaria. Now we have two, Tedros said. Oxford University developed the new three-dose vaccine with help from the Serum Institute of India. Research suggests it is more than 75 per cent effective and that protection is maintained for at least another year with a booster. Tedros said the shot would cost about USD 2 to USD 4 and could be available in some countries next year if funders agree to buy it. Earlier this year, regulatory authorities in Ghana and Burkina Faso

TMS Ep534: Car buying spree, China's economy, stockbroker, malaria vaccine

Why are Indians on a car buying spree? Is China's authoritarianism hurting its economy? How are traditional brokerages fighting back? What is the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine? All answers here

R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine: What it is, and when will it roll out?

The R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine is an easily deployable vaccine that can be manufactured at a mass scale with a modest cost

WHO recommends Oxford-Serum Institute malaria vaccine for global rollout

India roll-out timelines not known immediately

Booster dose: Zydus likely to arm India with single-dose malaria drug

In Phase-2 trials now, pill also works against drug-resistant malaria strains

Ghana becomes first country to approve Oxford malaria vaccine for children

It is hoped that this crucial step will enable the vaccine to help Ghanaian and African children to effectively combat malaria, said Oxford University

Oxford University, SII tie-up delivers 'high efficacy' malaria vaccine

A University of Oxford developed and Serum Institute of India (SII) manufactured and scaled up "high efficacy" malaria vaccine has been licensed for use in Ghana by Africa's Food and Drugs Authority, the university announced here on Thursday. The R21/Matrix-M vaccine, leveraging Novavax's adjuvant technology, has been approved for use in children aged 5 to 36 months the age group at the highest risk of death from malaria. It marks the first regulatory clearance for the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine for use in any country. This marks a culmination of 30 years of malaria vaccine research at Oxford with the design and provision of a high efficacy vaccine that can be supplied at adequate scale to the countries who need it most, said Professor Adrian Hill, Chief investigator of the programme and Director of the Oxford University's Jenner Institute at the Nuffield Department of Medicine. As with the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, our partnership with the Serum Institute of India has

DCGI allows Serum Institute to export malaria vaccine to UK: Report

India's drug regulator has allowed the export of the first produced-in-India vaccine against malaria, developed by scientists at the University of Oxford and manufactured by Serum Institute to the UK, official sources said on Thursday. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted permission to send two lakh doses of the vaccine. The move comes after an application was submitted by Prakash Kumar Singh, director, Government and Regulatory Affairs, at Serum Institute of India (SII) to DCGI on September 27 seeking permission to export the vaccine against malaria, official sources told PTI. "SII has developed the vaccine against malaria under leadership of our CEO Dr Adar C Poonawalla. We have been relentlessly working to make available made-in-India and world-class vaccines against malaria to our country and world at large," an official source quoted Singh as having said in the application. Currently, only one vaccine against malaria is available globally and GSK is the ...

SII may use Oxford Biomedica's plant to make malaria, flu vaccines

SII is building a future pandemic facility, which will have an annual capacity of 2 bn doses

What is keeping Adar Poonawalla busy these days?

Adar Poonawalla has taken Indian vaccines to the US and European markets. In an interview with Business Standard's Sohini Das, he tells about his plans for mass production of vaccines and more

Huge funding announced to roll-out first malaria vaccine in Africa: WHO

WHO welcomed the announcement by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, of international support worth nearly USD 160 million for the next 3 years to facilitate increased vaccine access to children

Mylab launches combined RT-PCR test for Zika, malaria, dengue

Test can differentiate between seven diseases and give results in 2 hrs

WHO calls for continued innovation, increased investment to fight malaria

According to the WHO's 2021 World Malaria Report, global progress in reducing malaria cases and deaths has slowed or stalled in recent years, particularly in the countries hardest hit by the disease

Malaria deaths in Meghalaya drop from 40 in 2015 to 3 in 2021: Officials

Only 27 malaria deaths were reported in the entire state in the past five years from 2017 onwards, they said