Malaria Vaccine Protects Children for More Than a Year

GlaxoSmithKline to develop vaccine commercially

An experimental malaria vaccine helps protect children for as long as 18 months against the deadly parasite, researchers report. The company that makes the vaccine, GlaxoSmithKline, says it will move ahead to develop the vaccine commercially.

It's not a home run by any stretch. The vaccine, called RTS,S, cut the number of cases in half after 18 months. Most childhood vaccines provide at least 90 percent protection. And it only reduced the number of cases in infants by a quarter.

But in the world of malaria vaccines, it's good enough. Researchers have worked for decades to try to make a vaccine against the malaria parasite, which is carried by mosquitoes. It has been especially difficult.

Malaria kills 660,000 people a year, mainly babies in the poorest parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and scientists say an effective vaccine is key to attempts to eradicate it.