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Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 2002;287:180.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

An experimental malaria vaccine offers partial protection against Plasmodium falciparum infection, according to a report by investigators from Gambia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Belgium (Lancet. 2001;358:1927-1934).

In the randomized trial, which took place in Gambia at the beginning of the malaria season, 250 men received three doses of the malaria vaccine or a control inoculation with rabies vaccine. Over the next 15 weeks, men who received the rabies vaccine became infected more quickly than those who received the malaria vaccine.

The vaccine, RTS,S/AS02, a pre-erythrocytic vaccine intended to prevent the infection of red blood cells, had an estimated efficacy of 72% during the first 9 weeks of the trial, although protection completely waned by the end of the 15-week trial. The vaccine also offered partial protection (and overall efficacy of 42%) in men who received a fourth injection the following year and were . . . [Full Text of this Article]