Why in News
An inexpensive malaria vaccine developed by Oxford university and manufactured by Serum institute of India.
Malaria
Malaria is a serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by a parasite.
People who get malaria are typically very sick with a high fever and shaking chills.
While the disease is uncommon in temperate climates.
Malaria is still common in tropical and subtropical countries.
Malaria is caused by a parasite of the genus Plasmodium.
There are five species of Plasmodium that can infect humans.
The most common and dangerous is Plasmodium falciparum.
The malaria parasite travels to the liver, where it matures and multiplies.
If malaria is not treated promptly, it can become severe and may cause kidney failure, seizures, mental confusion, coma, and death.
Malaria is a serious disease, but it is preventable and treatable.
R21/MatrixM malaria vaccine
The R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine is a pre-erythrocytic malaria vaccine.
Pre- erythrocytic means - being exoerythrocytic stages of a malaria parasite that occur before the red blood cells are invaded.
It is a subunit vaccine that targets the sporozoite stage of the malaria parasite.
Sporozoite - first stage of the parasite to enter the human body after a mosquito bite.
The R21 vaccine is made up of a protein called NANP.
NANP is fused to a protein from the hepatitis B virus.
R21/MatrixM malaria vaccine
The R21/Matrix-M vaccine is given as a three-dose series.
The R21/Matrix-M vaccine is a significant breakthrough in the fight against malaria.
It is the first malaria vaccine to be recommended by the WHO for use in children.
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