Can a Vaccine-drug Combination Provide Additional Protection Against Malaria?

Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine and amodiaquine can be successful in children. In addition, WHO recommends the malaria vaccine RTS,S/AS01 E , for children in countries with high malaria burden, considering the importance of developing better malaria treatment. In such an effort, researchers have examined the effectiveness of a combination of SMC and RTS,S/AS01 E , in preventing malaria among 5098 children aged five to 17 months.

Over five years of observation showed that the incidence of malaria per 1,000 person-years at risk was lower in the SMC+RTS,S/AS01 E group (133) than the SMC (313) and RTS,S/AS01 E (320) alone groups. In addition, hospital admissions for severe malaria, malarial anemia, blood transfusion, and deaths from malaria were reduced in the combined group compared to the SMC alone group. This study suggests that SMC and RTS,S/AS01 E…