The World Health Organization on Wednesday said it is recommending “widespread use” of a malaria vaccine for children in sub-Saharan Africa and other at-risk regions. The recommendation for the AS01 formulation of the RTS,S vaccine, also known as Mosquirix™, is largely based on results from an ongoing pilot program in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi that followed more than 800,000 inoculated children since 2019, the WHO announced. The initial RTS,S vaccine was developed by GlaxoSmithKline, a UK pharmaceutical company, in 1987. Malaria is caused by a parasite transmitted by infected mosquitoes. The vaccine is recommended for areas with moderate to high transmission of Plasmodium falciparum, which is the most deadly malaria-causing parasite and the most prevalent in Africa. Mosquirix is designed to prevent the parasite from infecting and multiplying in the liver, before the parasite has a chance to re-enter the bloodstream and infect red blood cells. Malaria can also be caused by other parasites including P. vivax, P. ovale, …
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