“World-Changing Malaria Vaccine”: Approved by Ghana

Malaria is life threatening disease specially for children. WHO approved a vaccine, which is affordable. Here we talk about this vaccine and about Malaria.

A highly effective malaria vaccine is authorised by the West African nation of Ghana against a parasitic disease that affects nearly 250 million people a year and kills 600,000, most of them young children. This vaccine is approved by The Ghana Food and Drugs Authority. Many have claimed that the University of Oxford’s R-21 vaccine is “world-changing”.

Vaccine is known as R21, for children aged five months to three years. Ghana is the first nation to take action on the vaccine, which was developed at the University of Oxford.

Researchers have found that the vaccine can have a shelf-life of 24 months when refrigerated at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (35.6 to 46.4 degrees Fahrenheit), a temperature threshold that is far more achievable in developing countries than the colder requirements for many other vaccines. The cost of this vaccine is as little as $2 or $3 per dose.

R21 builds on and shares similarities with Mesquite. The new vaccine contains Novavax’s Matrix-M, an adjuvant that enhances the immune system response, which the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, said makes it more potent and durable.  

“The R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine is a low-dose vaccine that can be manufactured at mass scale and modest cost”

Kenya has launched the malaria vaccine before this vaccine, named RTS,S, which was launched on September, 13, 2019.  

What is Malaria?

Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite. The parasite is spread to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes. The severity of malaria is based on the species of Plasmodium

Symptoms

  • Fever
  • General feeling of discomfort
  • Chills
  • Headache
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Diarrhea
  • Abdominal pain
  • Muscle or joint pain
  • Fatigue
  • Rapid breathing
  • Rapid heart rate
  • Cough

The symptoms are seen as fever, headache and chills after 10-15 days of mosquito bite. If left untreated the disease can cause multiple organ failures in adults and critical anemia or respiratory diseases in children.

CHILD MORTALITY

Children are affected the most with this disease. World Health Organization says in every two minutes a child dies of malaria and in 2020, there were 241 million reported cases of malaria throughout the world, with 627,000 deaths. 

At the end of February, Kenya had given more than 1.1 million doses of the vaccine to children under the age of five, of whom 386,000 had received the first of the four-dose vaccine.

ADVICE

The Doctors advice “Mothers should take the initiative to take their children for the complete every dose of the vaccine”

Mothers should give attention to the importance of the vaccine during clinical visits, he says, has improved the reception of the vaccine to the whole community.

Side effect of Vaccine

“The side effect is just the local reaction at the site of injection, which has pain and inflammation. Otherwise, there are no other side effects, such as headache or vomiting.”

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