RTS,S Malaria Vaccine Administered with EPI Vaccines Is Efficacious

Malaria vaccine administered with Expanded Program on Immunization vaccines was safe and had >50% efficacy at 19 months. A phase III trial is under way.

The quest continues for a malaria vaccine. RTS,S (Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein fused to hepatitis B virus surface antigen) has shown modest efficacy in early trials (JW Infect Dis Dec 17 2008). Now, investigators report the results of a manufacturer-supported, open-label, phase II trial to assess the safety and efficacy of this preparation — adjuvanted with AS01E and given along with Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) vaccines — with 19 months of follow-up.

A total of 511 healthy infants in Ghana, Tanzania, and Gabon, aged 6 to 10 weeks, were randomized to receive placebo or RTS,S/AS01E candidate malaria vaccine along with EPI vaccines (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b, and oral…

Reviewing Author

Mary E. Wilson, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardOneHealthTrust (formerly Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics, and Policy); Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsJournal of Travel Medicine

Mary E. Wilson, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardOneHealthTrust (formerly Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics, and Policy); Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsJournal of Travel Medicine