First malaria vaccine gives relief to western Kenya

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Lucy Akinyi’s three children were infected with malaria so often that they had to go to the hospital several times a month. So when suggested that she participate in a pilot malaria vaccine program, she did not hesitate to accept.

In western Kenya, where malaria is endemic, more than 100,000 children have been inoculated with this new vaccine.

In sub-Saharan Africa, malaria kills 260,000 children under the age of five annually.

This innovative vaccination plan started in 2019 in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi to test a compound that took 30 years to develop.

In October 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) approved the widespread use of this vaccine for children in other risk areas.

For Akinyi and his family, who live in the rural community of Siaya near Lake Victoria, the vaccine has worked wonders.

The woman had to make sure that her children slept under mosquito nets, and despite her best efforts, the children continued to be bitten when they played outside.

“We had a lot of malaria. Sometimes we had to go to the hospital three times a month,” he explains.

Since being vaccinated, none of their children have fallen ill, which has changed their lives.

Her sister-in-law Millicent Akoth Oyoya also vaccinated her children after seeing the results in her nephews.

Health centers in western Kenya, where pediatric services were often overwhelmed by malaria cases, are already starting to see the results of this project.

The arrival of malaria patients decreased and so did the severity of the patients’ symptoms.

“Since we started administering the vaccine in September 2019, we have seen a reduction in malaria cases,” says Elsa Swerua, head nurse at a health center in Akala, Siaya.

This disease can affect a person several times in a year and with this vaccine families reduce their trips to health centers, which represents significant savings for families.

“Before the vaccine (…) we spent a lot of money on medicines, going to the hospital”, says Akinyi.

Dr Simon Kariuki, a researcher at the Kenya Medical Research Institute and a leading malaria expert, says the vaccine “turned the tables”.

“We have shown that this vaccine is safe and that it can be given to African children, who suffer the most from malaria,” he added.

Source: Folha

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