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Health News : A pinch in the leg, a squeal and a trickle of tears. One baby after another in Malawi is getting the first and only vaccine against malaria, one of history's deadliest and most stubborn of diseases. The southern African nation is rolling out the shots in an unusual pilot programme along with Kenya and Ghana. Unlike established vaccines that offer near-complete protection, this new one is only about 40% effective. But experts say it's worth a try as progress against malaria stalls: Resistance to treatment is growing and the global drop in cases has leveled off. With the vaccine, the hope is to help small children through the most dangerous period of their lives. Spread by mosquito bites, malaria kills more than 400,000 people every year, two-thirds of them under 5 and most in Africa. Seven-month-old Charity Nangware received a shot on a rainy December day at a health clinic in the town of Migowi. She watched curiously as the needle slid into her thi...

Every death from malaria is a tragedy. But many infections can be prevented. This is particularly true for holidaymakers, travellers, or people visiting their families in malaria endemic areas. All they need to do is follow some very simple rules. Malaria is a complicated disease – I should know, after studying it for more than 30 years – but the solutions to avoiding and treating it can be as simple as “ABCD”. If the basics of prevention are followed, a great deal of unnecessary illness and mortality can be avoided. Avoidance to detection A is for Awareness and Avoidance of malaria risk Several factors influence your chance of getting malaria in a particular area. Understanding these can help you to avoid or least minimise the risk. The first question to ask is: how much malaria normally occurs in the area, and when? The answer will depend on altitude and climate – generally the lower, warmer and more humid the place, the more suitable it is for malaria vectors, the Anopheles...

Malaria has been a terrible disease throughout human history. Deaths actually peaked over five million in the 1930s and it spread all over the world. Following a first global eradication programme launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) with massive spraying campaigns using the dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) insecticide, Europe was declared malaria free in 1975. Today, we face a very different scenario. There has been a major reduction in the malaria burden, from millions to about half a million deaths a year in 2018. Even so, malaria is still one of the three leading causes of death in developing countries. And it’s estimated that 40% of the world’s population (more than 200,000) is at risk. In addition, two thirds of malaria deaths are children under the age of five. Africa is home to 70% of the world’s malaria cases and 90% of deaths. What we’ve learnt from Africa is that malaria and poverty are intimately connected. The lack of basic sanitary services and hygi...