Hopes over ‘partially effective’ malaria vaccine

Developers of the vaccine are trying to get it universally approved because it could help protect millions of young children. The world’s first malaria vaccine is only partially effective but could shield millions of young children against the deadly parasites, according to researchers. Final study results of the GlaxoSmithKline vaccine, published today in The Lancet medical journal, showed it protects about one-third of children vaccinated. The World Health Organisation (WHO) had previously set a target of 2015 for having a malaria vaccine that was at least 50% effective with protection lasting longer than a year. Those goals have been missed with the new vaccine, known as RTS,S, but scientists claim a breakthrough. “Everyone accepts that this is not the perfect or the last malaria vaccine,” said Brian Greenwood of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the study’s lead author. “It’s not good enough to stop transmission but it will cut the huge burden of...