Study suggests new approach to fighting malaria reduces severe illness and deaths in kids

Vials of the world's first malaria vaccine.
(Image credit: Brian Ongoro/AFP via Getty Images)

Researchers conducting a malaria trial in Burkina Faso and Mali found that when children received both seasonal vaccinations and antimalarial drugs, rather than just one intervention, there was a 70 percent drop in hospitalizations and deaths related to the disease, The Guardian reports.

Their study was published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine. Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease, and in 2019, 94 percent of cases and deaths were reported in Africa. The most vulnerable group is children 5 and under — in 2019, they accounted for 67 percent of malaria deaths worldwide, the World Health Organization said.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.