Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
WHO Endorses A Malaria Vaccine For The First Time
NPR: WHO Greenlights The World's First Malaria Vaccine — But It's Not A Perfect Shot
The world's arsenal against malaria just got a fancy new bazooka. But it's not the easiest weapon to deploy, it only hits its target 30 to 40% of the time, and it's not yet clear who's going to pay for it. The weapon in question is the RTS,S vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline, which on Wednesday got the green light from the World Health Organization for widespread use. This is not only the first authorized malaria vaccine, it's also the first vaccine ever approved for use against a parasitic disease in humans. (Beaubien, 10/6)
Stat: WHO Recommends Broad Rollout Of World's First Malaria Vaccine
The vaccine, known as RTS,S and developed by GSK, is given in four doses. The complexity of delivering a four-dose regimen in low-resource settings had raised concerns about how useful the vaccine could be in the real world. For that reason, the WHO’s vaccine advisers previously recommended the vaccine be used first in a pilot program. That program began in 2019, with Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi deploying the vaccine. All three countries gave the first three shots of the vaccine at monthly intervals starting at either 5 or 6 months of age, with the last given 18 months or so after the first — around a child’s second birthday. While the initial doses are given at the time other vaccines are administered, the last is not. It was feared that in remote and rural settings, parents might not bring their children back in for a final dose of the vaccine, limiting the vaccine’s usefulness. (Branswell, 10/6)
The New York Times: First Malaria Vaccine Approved By W.H.O.
The World Health Organization on Wednesday endorsed the vaccine, the first step in a process that should lead to wide distribution in poor countries. To have a malaria vaccine that is safe, moderately effective and ready for distribution is “a historic event,” said Dr. Pedro Alonso, director of the W.H.O.’s global malaria program. ... The vaccine, called Mosquirix, is not just a first for malaria — it is the first developed for any parasitic disease. Parasites are much more complex than viruses or bacteria, and the quest for a malaria vaccine has been underway for a hundred years. (Mandavilli, 10/6)
And a tree in Chile is key to making the malaria and covid vaccines —
Reuters: Chile's Quillay Tree Is Key In A New Novavax Covid-19 Vaccine
Quillay trees, technically known as Quillaja saponaria, are rare evergreens native to Chile that have long been used by the indigenous Mapuche people to make soap and medicine. In recent years, they have also been used to make a highly successful vaccine against shingles and the world’s first malaria vaccine, as well as foaming agents for products in the food, beverage and mining industries. (10/6)
In case you missed it: The science behind malaria —
India Today: Life Cycle Of Malaria; Here’s Everything You Need To Know
Malaria is typically transmitted to humans by the bite of female mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles. It is a life-threatening mosquito-borne disease in which the infected mosquitoes carry the Plasmodium parasites and once they bite humans, the parasite is released into their bloodstreams. Malaria is extremely common in tropical and subtropical climates with hot and humid weather conditions where the parasites can live and are generally active. (8/30)
Science Alert: Sneaky Mutations Are Helping Malaria To Avoid Detection And Spread In The Body
Malaria still relentlessly plagues parts of the world. It killed more than 400,000 people in 2019, most of them babies and toddlers. In areas of Africa, it's even rivaling COVID-19 deaths, where the coronavirus pandemic has severely interrupted prevention and treatment efforts. Now, to make matters worse, it looks as if a new strain of the primary parasite responsible for the disease, Plasmodium falciparum, is able to avoid a common way we detect it. New research led by Ethiopian Public Health Institute's immunologist Sindew Feleke has shown nearly 10 percent of malaria cases are missed across Ethiopia's borders as a result of at least one of the mutations helping the parasite evade rapid diagnostic testing (RDT). (Koumoundouros, 10/2)
Smithsonian Magazine: The Secret Lives Of Mosquitoes, The World’s Most Hated Insects
For humans, mosquitoes are the deadliest animals on Earth. ... Aside from the 100 or so species that commonly spread disease to humans, there are thousands more with fascinating behaviors and gorgeous bodies that we barely understand, yet we still call for their indiscriminate eradication. “We have been grossly underestimating the diversity of mosquitoes,” said Yvonne-Marie Linton, curator of the Smithsonian's National Mosquito Collection and research director at the Department of Defense’s Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit (WBRU). “The number of new species that we find everywhere we go is phenomenal.” (Hansen, 8/19)
