Mosquirix
Context:
Cameroon has achieved the milestone of being the first country to regularly administer Mosquirix, the world’s first malaria vaccine for children.
Relevance:
GS-03 (Health, Scientific Innovations)
About:
- Mosquirix, commercially known as RTS,S/AS01, is an injectable vaccine designed to combat P. falciparum, the predominant malaria strain in Africa.
- Developed by the British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline in 1987, it stands as the first and sole vaccine demonstrating partial protection in young children.
- The active components in Mosquirix consist of proteins located on the surface of Plasmodium falciparum parasites (PFP).
- The vaccine’s primary objective is to stimulate the immune system to defend against the initial stages of malaria, specifically when PFP enters the human host’s bloodstream through a mosquito bite and infects liver cells. Additionally, RTS,S offers protection against Hepatitis B virus liver infections.
- In terms of potency, the vaccine exhibits an effectiveness of approximately 30% in preventing severe cases of malaria in children, making it the sole approved vaccine for this purpose.
- The European Union’s drug regulatory authority endorsed Mosquirix in 2015, emphasizing the overall benefits outweighing associated risks. Although rare, potential side effects may include a fever that could lead to temporary convulsions.
World Malaria Report 2023:
- Released By: Published annually by the World Health Organization (WHO).
- Objective: Provides a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of global trends in malaria control and elimination.
- New Chapter: The 2023 report includes a dedicated chapter focused on the intersection between climate change and malaria.
Highlights from the World Malaria Report 2023 reveal that in India, there were approximately 3.3 million malaria cases and 5,000 deaths last year, marking a significant decrease of 30% and 34% respectively compared to 2021.
The key findings regarding the malaria trend in India according to the World Malaria Report 2023 are as follows:
- Reduction in Malaria Cases and Fatalities in 2022: Reported cases amounted to around 3.3 million, with 5,000 deaths, indicating a decline of 30% and 34% respectively from the previous year.
- The reduction is attributed to the implementation of effective preventive strategies, improved case management, the availability of vector control tools, point-of-care diagnostics, and prompt community-level treatments.
On a global scale:
- Contrastingly, on a global scale, malaria cases exhibited an upward trend, reaching 249 million in 2022—an increase of 5 million cases compared to 2021.
- Despite a decade-long stabilization of global malaria cases from 2000 to 2019, a surge occurred during the pandemic, with an additional 11 million cases reported in 2020.
- While this trend remained consistent in 2021, it further escalated in 2022.
- Global malaria deaths also increased, with 608,000 fatalities recorded in 2022, compared to 576,000 in 2019.
