RTS,S/AS01 Vaccine Reduces Malaria Incidence by Half

Initial results from a phase III trial show protection against clinical and severe malaria during the 12 months after vaccination in children aged 5 to 17 months.

Early trials of the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine have shown approximately 50% efficacy (JW Infect Dis Oct 19 2011). Now, this vaccine is being evaluated in a manufacturer-sponsored, double-blind, multicenter, phase III trial in Africa, among children in two age groups: 6 to 12 weeks and 5 to 17 months.

Children at 11 centers in seven African countries (6537 in the younger age group; 8923 in the older group) were randomized to receive three intramuscular doses of RTS,S/AS01 or a comparator vaccine at monthly intervals. In the younger children, the comparator vaccine was meningococcal C conjugate vaccine; in the older group, it was rabies vaccine.

In an interim (12-month) efficacy analysis conducted among the first 6000 children enrolled in the o…

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

RTS,S/AS01 Vaccine Reduces Malaria Incidence by Half

Topics

Reviewing Author