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A malaria vaccine is approved by the World Health Organisation
世界卫生组织批准首个疟疾疫苗
Malaria is one of medical science’s most formidable foes. The search for a vaccine has been going on for decades. Dozens of candidates have been tested in recent years. But so far only one, a jab called RTS,S, made by GlaxoSmithKline, has proved effective in the final stages of clinical trials. On October 6th the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended RTS,S for use in childhood vaccination in places with transmission of Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest of the five parasites that cause malaria, and the most common in Africa.
疟疾是医学上最可怕的敌人之一。对疫苗的研究已经进行了几十年。近年来，数十个候选疫苗已进行测试。但到目前为止，只有葛兰素史克公司生产的RTS,S疫苗在临床试验的最后阶段被证明有效。10月6日，世界卫生组织（WHO）建议将RTS,S用于恶性疟原虫传播地区的儿童疫苗接种。恶性疟原虫是导致疟疾的五种寄生虫中最致命的一种，也是非洲最常见的一种。
The WHO reached its decision after reviewing results from Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, where more than 800,000 infants were vaccinated with a four-dose regimen. In these countries RTS,S was included among the routine childhood vaccines distributed by primary health-care centres. This implementation programme, in which RTS,S reduced by 30% the number of cases of severe malaria which led to hospital admissions, therefore measured what kind of efficacy can be expected if the vaccine is rolled out widely across Africa.
世卫组织是在审查了加纳、肯尼亚和马拉维的结果后做出这一决定的。在这些国家，80多万婴儿接种了四剂疫苗。在这些国家，RTS,S被列入到初级保健中心分发的儿童常规疫苗中。在该实施方案中，RTS,S导致住院的严重疟疾病例数量减少了30%，因此衡量了如果疫苗在非洲被广泛推广，可预期产生什么样的疗效。
Some may think that 30% efficacy is not much. But in parts of sub-Saharan Africa children contract malaria six times a year on average. Each year more than 260,000 African children die of it before their fifth birthdays. Those who survive often suffer lifelong harm, including stunting, a form of impaired growth that affects the ability to learn. The impact of RTS,S will thus be huge.
有些人可能会认为30%的效力并不多。但在撒哈拉以南非洲的部分地区，儿童平均每年感染6次疟疾。每年有超过26万的非洲儿童在五岁之前死于该病。幸存下来的人往往会遭受终身伤害，包括发育迟缓，这是一种影响学习能力的生长受损形式。因此RTS,S的影响将是巨大的。
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