The article “Viral Vector Malaria Vaccines Induce High-Level T Cell and Antibody Responses in West African Children and Infants” was published by Carly Bliss et al. in Molecular Therapy.
The paper evaluates heterologous prime-boosting with viral vectors encoding the pre-erythrocytic antigen thrombospondin-related adhesion protein fused to a multiple epitope string (ME-TRAP) in children and infants. The previous studies, the vectored vaccine candidate induced CD8+ T cell-mediated immunity to malaria sporozoite challenge in European malaria-naive and natural infection in Kenyan semi-immune adults. This approach had not yet been evaluated in children and infants. Therefore, to assess this vaccine strategy, the study focused on four cohorts of Gambian and Burkinabe children. Furthermore, the study assessed induction of cellular immunity, taking into account the distinctive hematological status of young infants, and characterised the antibody response to vaccination. EVI congratulates the entire team for this interesting paper.