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Watershed Vaccine May End Malaria Toll

If trials work as expected, shots could save millions of children

By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 9, 2008 1:45 AM CST

(Newser) – Scientists have developed a promising vaccine against malaria, a devastating disease that kills a milion people a year, most of them young children. Trials of the breakthrough vaccine enter the final phase next year and it could be widely available by 2012, reports the Los Angeles Times. Successful trials have been conducted in Kenya and Tanzania.

Developing a vaccine against malaria, which is carried by mosquitos, had been thought impossible. If the final trials are successful, "it would be an extraordinary scientific triumph," said a spokesman fro the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which helped fund the research. "It could save millions of children's lives."


A mother gently places her son in a basket, to take him to a clinic in Sudan to be treated for malaria. A new vaccine could save millions of children's lives.
A mother gently places her son in a basket, to take him to a clinic in Sudan to be treated for malaria. A new vaccine could save millions of children's lives.   (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo, File)
A child is vaccinated against malaria during trials in Tanzania. The vaccine may be widely available in 2012.
A child is vaccinated against malaria during trials in Tanzania. The vaccine may be widely available in 2012.   (AP Photo/Darby Communications, John-Michael Maas)
A doctor treats a young malaria patient in Liberia. A new vaccine may save the lives of a millions of children.
A doctor treats a young malaria patient in Liberia. A new vaccine may save the lives of a millions of children.   (Photo: Business Wire)
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COMMENTS
Showing 1 of 1 comment
Zebraone
Dec 11, 2008 1:00 AM CST
Nature undone again!

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