{"id":41000,"date":"2025-10-27T02:46:48","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T21:16:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=41000"},"modified":"2025-10-29T10:38:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T05:08:13","slug":"r21matrix-m-malaria-vaccine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/r21matrix-m-malaria-vaccine\/","title":{"rendered":"Serum Institute ships first set of its malaria vaccine to Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in News?<\/li>\n<li>What is Malaria?<\/li>\n<li>What is R21\/Matrix-M?<\/li>\n<li>First set of its malaria vaccine to Africa<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why in News?<\/h2>\n<p>Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), announced on Monday that it has shipped its first batch of malaria vaccines\u2014 R21\/Matrix-M\u2014 to Africa. Close to half-a-million children die of malaria each year in the African region, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/world-health-organisation\/\" target=\"_blank\">World Health Organisation (WHO)<\/a>. In 2022, the WHO Africa region was home to 94% of malaria cases (233 million) and 95% (580,000) of malaria deaths. India had an estimated 3.38 million cases and 5,511 deaths.<\/p>\n<h2>What is Malaria?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>About<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Malaria is an acute febrile illness caused by Plasmodium parasites, which are spread to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>It is a life-threatening disease primarily found in tropical countries.<\/li>\n<li>It is preventable and curable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Transmission of Malaria<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Malaria is not contagious and cannot spread from one person to another; the disease is transmitted through the bites of female Anopheles mosquitoes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Five species of parasites<\/strong> can cause malaria in humans and 2 of these species \u2013 Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax \u2013 pose the greatest threat.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Symptoms\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The first symptoms of malaria usually begin within 10\u201315 days after the bite from an infected mosquito.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Fever, headache and chills are typically experienced, though these symptoms may be mild and difficult to recognize as malaria.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>In malaria endemic areas, people who have developed partial immunity may become infected but experience no symptoms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Prevention<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Vector control interventions\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Vector control is the main approach to prevent malaria and reduce transmission.<\/li>\n<li>Two forms of vector control are effective for people living in malaria-endemic countries:\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>insecticide-treated nets, and\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>indoor residual spraying, which is the application of an insecticide to surfaces where mosquitoes tend to rest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Chemopreventive therapies and chemoprophylaxis\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Although designed to treat patients already infected with malaria, some antimalarial medicines can also be used to prevent the disease.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is R21\/Matrix-M?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>About<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The R21 vaccine is the second <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/malaria-vaccine\/\" target=\"_blank\">malaria vaccine<\/a> recommended by WHO, following the RTS,S\/AS01 vaccine, which received a WHO recommendation in 2021.<\/li>\n<li>This vaccine has been developed by the University of Oxford and manufactured and scaled up by the Serum Institute of India (SII).<\/li>\n<li>The vaccine leverages <strong>Novavax\u2019s adjuvant technology<\/strong> and has met the required safety, quality and effectiveness standards.\n<ul>\n<li>Adjuvants are substances that enhance the immune system&#8217;s response to a vaccine.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>They are commonly used to improve the effectiveness of a vaccine.<\/li>\n<li>In the vaccine, Matrix-M component is a proprietary saponin-based adjuvant developed by Novavax.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Key features<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>High efficacy when given just before the high transmission season<\/li>\n<li>Good efficacy when given in an age-based schedule<\/li>\n<li>High impact\n<ul>\n<li>Mathematical modelling estimates indicate the public health impact of the R21 vaccine is expected to be high in a wide range of malaria transmission settings, including low transmission settings.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Cost effectiveness\n<ul>\n<li>At prices of US$ 2 \u2013 US$ 4 per dose, the cost-effectiveness of the R21 vaccine would be comparable with other recommended malaria interventions and other childhood vaccines.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>First set of its malaria vaccine to Africa<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Initial shipment to the Central African Republic (CAR) region<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The initial shipment will be sent to CAR, followed by other African countries such as South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the coming days.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Malaria vaccine is for the African continent<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>As per the SII, this is a malaria vaccine for the African continent and not for India as the parasite is found in Africa.\n<ul>\n<li>SII pointed out that the particular parasite (found in Africa) was not in India. Hence for India, it will take another five years for a malaria vaccine.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>It should be noted that, no Malaria vaccine is currently being used in India under the national programme.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Q.1. What is Adjuvant technology?<\/h3>\n<p>Adjuvant technology is a combination of immunostimulatory molecules that are added to vaccines to help the body&#8217;s immune response. Adjuvants can be used in vaccines for many diseases, including tetanus, diphtheria, polio, pneumonia, and hepatitis.<\/p>\n<h3>Q.2. What is Serum Institute of India (SII)?<\/h3>\n<p>Serum Institute of India is ranked as India&#8217;s No. 1 biotechnology company, manufacturing highly specialized life saving biologicals like vaccines using cutting edge genetic and cell based technologies, antisera and other medical specialties.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/cities\/pune\/sii-ships-first-set-of-malaria-vaccine-doses-to-africa-9341173\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">SII ships first set of malaria vaccine doses to Africa<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news\/item\/02-10-2023-who-recommends-r21-matrix-m-vaccine-for-malaria-prevention-in-updated-advice-on-immunization\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">WHO<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/india-news\/serum-institute-ships-first-set-of-its-malaria-vaccine-to-africa-101716234120972.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Hindustan Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Malaria is an acute febrile illness caused by Plasmodium parasites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-41000","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","7":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41000\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}