RESUMEN
The RTS,S/AS01 is a subunit malaria vaccine against the pre-erythrocytic stage of Plasmodium falciparum. After over 30 years of research and development and clinical trials, this vaccine has been recommended by the WHO for use among children living in highly malaria endemic areas. Although the RTS, S/AS01 vaccine suffers from problems of a low protective efficacy (about 30%), need of four doses and short duration of protective immunity, this malaria vaccine is expected to save tens of thousands of children’s lives, and avoid tens of millions of malaria cases annually, because there have been tens of thousands of childhood deaths due to malaria recently. The introduction of the RTS, S/AS01 vaccine is therefore, widely accepted as a milestone in the history of battle against malaria, which brings a hope to contain malaria and even eventually eliminate malaria. Although there are still multiple challenges in the development of a satisfactory malaria vaccine, the success of the RTS, S/AS01 malaria greatly facilitates the progress towards the development of parasitic disease vaccines, and a more perfect malaria vaccine deserves expectations.
RESUMEN
On October, 2021, the WHO announced the recommendation of RTS, S/AS01 for use among children living in moderately and highly malaria-endemic areas, which receives global attention. Here, the history of RTS, S/AS01 vaccine development and its role in malaria control are described.
RESUMEN
Vaccination is one of the most effective intervention for the containment and elimination of infectious diseases. Recently, the world’s first malaria vaccine RTS, S/AS01 was approved by WHO for use among children living in moderately and highly malaria endemic areas of Africa, which brings a hope for the research and development of malaria vaccines. Here, we review the current status of malaria vaccines development and provide a perspective on the development of next-generation malaria vaccines, so as to provide insights into the successful development of malaria vaccines.
RESUMEN
RTS, S/AS01 vaccine has recently been recommended by the WHO for large-scale uses in malaria-endemic areas, which is a milestone in the history of the fight against parasitic infections. Nevertheless, RTS, S/AS01 vaccine is not perfect. Hereby, the shortages of RTS, S/AS01 malaria vaccine were discussed, and the potential challenges during the research and development of next-generation malaria vaccines were analyzed.