Jorge Sarracent Pérez

The most recent advances in developing vaccines against malaria

According to reports of the Pan American Health Organization, malaria transmission continues to occur in 21 countries of the Americas. Of the 835 million inhabitants of the Region of the Americas, 293 million live in areas with some possibility of transmission of the disease. The most advanced of the candidate vaccines that have been designed based on the sequences of the circumsporozoite protein, is one based on the RTS,S/AS02A polypeptides of Plasmodium falciparum. A test of that vaccine was conducted in Mozambique with children from 1 to 4 years old. The test proved the vaccine to be safe, well tolerated, and immunogenic, but the level of protection reached was still low. However, the advantages that the RTS,S/AS02A vaccine offers to people who live in malaria-endemic areas justifies its being tested in the Americas in order to evaluate its effectiveness in the clinical and epidemiological conditions specific to the Region.According to reports of the Pan American Health Organization malaria transmission continues to occur in 21 countries of the Americas. Of the 835 million inhabitants of the Region of the Americas 293 million live in areas with some possibility of transmission of the disease. The most advanced of the candidate vaccines that have been designed based on the sequences of the circumsporozoite protein is one based on the RTSS/AS02A polypeptides of Plasmodium falciparum. A test of that vaccine was conducted in Mozambique with children from 1 to 4 years old. The test proved the vaccine to be safe well tolerated and immunogenic but the level of protection reached was still low. However the advantages that the RTSS/AS02A vaccine offers to people who live in malaria-endemic areas justifies its being tested in the Americas in order to evaluate its effectiveness in the clinical and epidemiological conditions specific to the Region. (authors)