A preliminary Study done in Burkina Faso has shown that children vaccinated with a new drug have higher levels of immunity to the Malaria virus. The new vaccine, discovered by Dr. Pierre Druilhe from the Pasteur Institute in Paris, uses a key protein, MSP3, that provokes the body into producing antibodies which can kill the Malaria parasite. The study, which originally wasn't aiming at testing immunity but rather safety, showed that children who received the vaccine had an incidence of the disease that was three to four times lower than children who didn't receive the vaccine. The MSP3 vaccine is very unique in that an individuals immunity remains constant despite the varying strains of the Malaria disease. The potential vaccine is only the second to show promising results out of about 100 other previous candidates.
The next step for the vaccine is to expand the trial to see if immunity holds up in a larger test group. Although early results look very promising Dr. Druilhe says we can't get ahead of ourselves, "There have been too many claims of effective vaccines so we have to remain very cautious."
However the trial does raise some hope. As an intern at a global public health organization, Malaria No More, I have learned how crucial the development of a vaccine is. With annual deaths from Malaria totaling over 781,000 people, a child dying every 45 seconds from the disease, and children under the age of 5 accounting for 85% of Malaria deaths, the creation of a vaccine would be incredible.
-Gabrielle Melton
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