Eligible Children Get Four Malaria Vaccine Doses

Gavi today reported the Republic of Kenya is innovating to help every eligible child get four malaria vaccine doses in 2023.

As of August 18, 2023, about 96.5% of eligible children in Vihiga County in Kenya have received at least one RTS,S vaccine dose.

However, only 30% of eligible children in Vihiga are yet to complete the four-dose regimen that maximizes the WHO-approved malaria vaccine's effectiveness.

Part of the so-called "Lake-endemic region" in Kenya, a particularly mosquito-plagued set of districts abutting Lake Victoria, Vihiga has been offering malaria vaccinations since 2019.

The positive impact of malaria vaccination is already being measured.

More than a million Gavi-supported RTS,S (Mosquirix™) vaccine doses have been administered to some 400,000 children across the Lake-endemic counties, and Dr Abdourahmane Diallo, WHO Kenya Representative, confirms that those jabs, in concert with other malaria-control measures, have led to a demonstrable decline in case" .

The U.S. CDC Kenya"s Amy Herman-Roloff quantifies that decline at 50%.

The precise burden of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa has remained elusive, wrote researchers in an article published by the journal BMC Medicine.

Infection with Plasmodium falciparum is a frequent event for individuals living in stable transmission areas in Afric. Not all new infections cause illness in partdue tof acquired immunity, says the CDC.

In Africa, two malaria vaccines have been in use during 2023.

In addition to malaria, the CDC included Kenya in a recent polio outbreak travel advisory. When visiting polio outbreak areas, the CDC recommends travelers ensure they have been fully immunized.