First malaria vaccine approved as hopes raised for new, better ones

By Anthony King2021-10-12T13:57:00

An image showing a health worker preparing a malaria vaccine to be administered

Source: © Brian Ongoro/AFP/Getty Images

Mosquirix prevents just 30% of severe malaria cases in young children prompting a guarded welcome

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the first ever malaria vaccine, RTS,S/AS01 (Mosquirix), for widespread use in children. Malaria causes more than 260,000 deaths in children aged under five in Africa every year.

This GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) vaccine prevents 39% of malaria cases and 30% of severe malaria cases in young children. It is recommended for children living in areas with moderate to high transmission of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.