Study shows promising Malaria Vaccine work on babies

A study published today showed that a promising vaccine for malaria was effective in infants of less than one year old.

The study included only 214 babies from Mozambique and was conducted just to prove that the vaccine was safe to give young children, but ended up showing that the risk of contracting the disease is much less likely after the full course of three injections is administered.

"We're now a step closer to the realization of a vaccine that can protect African infants," said Dr. Pedro Alonso, a professor at the University of Barcelona who leads clinical trials of the GlaxoSmithKline vaccine.

Glaxo's vice-president is very optimistic about the vaccine's future and stated if the vaccine passes larger clinical trials, by next year it could be used in seven other countries and even be ready for distribution by 2012.

According to the BBC News web site, a vaccine to combat this deadly disease has been in the works for some time. "A prototype vaccine has been in development and trails for 20 years...The quest for a vaccine represents a partnership between several African nations, the pharmaceutical industry and the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI.)"