Efficacy of the RTS, S/AS02A vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum infection and disease in young African children: randomised controlled trial

PL Alonso, J Sacarlal, JJ Aponte, A Leach, E Macete… - The Lancet, 2004 - thelancet.com
PL Alonso, J Sacarlal, JJ Aponte, A Leach, E Macete, J Milman, I Mandomando…
The Lancet, 2004thelancet.com
Background Development of an effective malaria vaccine could greatly contribute to disease
control. RTS, S/AS02A is a pre-erythrocytic vaccine candidate based on Plasmodium
falciparum circumsporozoite surface antigen. We aimed to assess vaccine efficacy,
immunogenicity, and safety in young African children. Methods We did a double-blind,
phase IIb, randomised controlled trial in Mozambique in 2022 children aged 1–4 years. The
study included two cohorts of children living in two separate areas which underwent different …
Background
Development of an effective malaria vaccine could greatly contribute to disease control. RTS,S/AS02A is a pre-erythrocytic vaccine candidate based on Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite surface antigen. We aimed to assess vaccine efficacy, immunogenicity, and safety in young African children.
Methods
We did a double-blind, phase IIb, randomised controlled trial in Mozambique in 2022 children aged 1–4 years. The study included two cohorts of children living in two separate areas which underwent different follow-up schemes. Participants were randomly allocated three doses of either RTS,S/AS02A candidate malaria vaccine or control vaccines. The primary endpoint, determined in cohort 1 (n=1605), was time to first clinical episode of P falciparum malaria (axillary temperature ≥37·5°C and P falciparum asexual parasitaemia >2500 per μL) over a 6-month surveillance period. Efficacy for prevention of new infections was determined in cohort 2 (n=417). Analysis was per protocol.
Findings
115 children in cohort 1 and 50 in cohort 2 did not receive all three doses and were excluded from the per-protocol analysis. Vaccine efficacy for the first clinical episodes was 29·9% (95% CI 11·0–44·8; p=0·004). At the end of the 6-month observation period, prevalence of P falciparum infection was 37% lower in the RTS,S/AS02A group compared with the control group (11·9% vs 18·9%; p=0·0003). Vaccine efficacy for severe malaria was 57·7% (95% CI 16·2–80·6; p=0·019). In cohort 2, vaccine efficacy for extending time to first infection was 45·0% (31·4–55·9; p<0·0001).
Interpretation
The RTS,S/AS02A vaccine was safe, well tolerated, and immunogenic. Our results show development of an effective vaccine against malaria is feasible.
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