Pilot malaria vaccination programme begins in Malawi

The first routine immunisations using GlaxoSmithKline’s RTS,S malaria vaccine have begun in Malawi. This is the first of three pilot schemes to introduce the vaccine, which will also be trialled in Ghana and Kenya.

RTS,S, also known as Mosquirix, is designed to be administered to toddlers, and to be given in four doses. It targets the Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite in the bloodstream and liver, aiming to disrupt its life cycle by preventing it maturing and multiplying.