EdEarl Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 NIH News An investigational malaria vaccine has been found to be safe, to generate an immune system response, and to offer protection against malaria infection in healthy adults, according to the results of an early-stage clinical trial published Aug. 8 in the journal Science. Great news if this vaccine is shown safe and effective in larger trials. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arete Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 100% Effective? Effective and promising for sure but nowhere near 100%. "The researchers found that the higher dosages of PfSPZ Vaccine were associated with protection against malaria infection. Only three of the 15 participants who received higher dosages of the vaccine became infected, compared to 16 of 17 participants in the lower dosage group who became infected. Among the 12 participants who received no vaccine, 11 participants became infected after mosquito challenge. " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overtone Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 This would be significant news in the progress of vaccine development and immune system comprehension, even if no disease as significant as human malaria were involved. That's a very difficult vaccine target. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overtone Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 So checking in with the New York Times Tuesday Science supplement (I have some respect for this source) some more context: the vaccine was 100% protective among the six individuals who received five treatments - all six were immune to mosquito infection "challenge" it was protective in 6 of the 9 individuals who received four treatments it was less effective with fewer treatments - four was the minimum for substantial benefit. The vaccine is delivered by IV drip - subcutaneous injection does not create immunity. The vaccine is a "weakened agent" vaccine - infected mosquitoes are irradiated to cripple the parasites in their salivary glands, these glands are then removed (by hand) and the parasites sieved out. When enough have been obtained a batch of the vaccine is prepared. Between the medical resources necessary for IV adminisration, the general reliability and control of circumstances necessary for the repetition, and the skilled hand labor of vaccine preparation, this is unlikely to ever be a mass population vaccine or an inexpensive one - it's developers anticipate some use in the military and among wealthy individuals, but mostly for research and proof of concept. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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