EFFICACY OF RTS,S/AS01 MALARIA VACCINE IN CHILDREN: A SYSTEMATIC

REVIEW
Chandni Kumar1, Clarissa Jasmine Aurelia 1, Ida Bagus Ram Kalpika Putra Mayun1

1
Faculty of Medicine, Pelita Harapan University, Tangerang, Indonesia

Background : Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease accounting for 241 million cases

in 2020 and has become a public health burden. Several methods have been employed in an
attempt to control this disease with the most recent being vaccines. WHO has begun
administration of RTS,S as the first generation malaria vaccine to children in endemic
countries, such as Africa. This review aims to analyze efficacy of RTS,S/AS01 vaccine in
children.

Methods : A systematic search was done to identify relevant literature from

search engines PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct using key words “RTS,S/AS01
malaria vaccine”, “Efficacy” and “Children”. Publications were limited to English
Manuscripts published within the last 10 years. Inclusion criteria were RTS,S/AS01 malaria
vaccine as intervention and children as study population. We excluded incomplete
manuscripts, case reports, systematic review, and meta-analyses. A total of 8 studies were
identified suitable for review. All studies were evaluated and scored using the JADAD scale.

Results : A total of 6 studies with 33,840 study participants were identified.

Based on JADAD assessment, all 6 studies were of good quality. All 6 studies showed that
RTS,S/AS01 were protective against clinical malaria. Two studies showed that efficacy
declined after 3-4 years.

Conclusions : This review found that the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine had good
efficacy among children. Further research and data collections are required in order to
determine the need for booster and safety as preventive efforts for malaria, especially in
endemic countries.

Keywords : Efficacy, RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine, children