SCIENTISTS REVIEW VACCINE AGAINST EARLY-STAGE MALARIA

An experimental vaccine that attacks the malaria parasite in its early stages prevents a significant number of malaria cases and should move closer to licensing and widespread use, according to a review of recent studies reported by Newswise.

Among children in Mozambique, the new vaccine -- called RTS,S -- reduced the number of clinical malaria episodes by 26 percent for up to 18 months after vaccination. There were 58 percent fewer severe episodes among the children over the same time period.

The vaccine also reduced the number of clinical malaria episodes in partially immune men in Gambia by 63 percent after they received a booster shot a year later, according to the report's authors. Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Research Institute co-developed the RTS,S vaccine with GlaxoSmithKline.

The review appears in the latest issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing medical trials on a topic. The Cochrane review of early-stage malaria vaccines included 11 studies and more than 3,000 participants. The blood stage review included five studies and 217 people. Arm pain and swelling were the most common side effects reported in both vaccine reviews.