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Science & Tech.
Mahesh

16/04/23 13:49 PM IST

Ghana becomes first country to approve Oxford malaria vaccine for children

In News
  • Ghana has become the first country in the world to approve an effective malaria vaccine developed at Oxford University.
R21 Vaccine
  • WHO has yet to recommend the R21 vaccine for widespread use, and until it does, there is a question mark over the amount of international funding available for it.
  • The vaccine’s phase 3 trial is ongoing, but earlier trials have shown efficacy levels of 77%, a level that was maintained after a single booster dose given a year later.
  • The Serum Institute of India, the biotechnology giant that is manufacturing the R21 vaccine, has the potential to manufacture more than 200 million doses annually.
Malaria
  • Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite.
  • It is transmitted through the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquito carrying the Plasmodium parasite (Plasmodium vivax). When this mosquito bites a human, the parasite is released into the bloodstream.
  • It is found in tropical and subtropical climates where the parasites can thrive and are prevalent in Africa, followed by Asia and Latin America. It also affects people in the Middle East and Europe to a much smaller degree.
  • The number of malarial cases worldwide in 2019 was around 229 million, according to the World Malaria Report in 2020, with 409,000 lives lost to the mosquito-borne disease.
Source- Business standard

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