Media pushes ‘success’ of experimental GSK malaria vaccine while ignoring deadly side effects
The mainstream media is abuzz with excitement over GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) latest offering, a malaria trial vaccine that the company claims can cut the risk of clinical and severe malaria in children by 56 percent and 47 percent, respectively. But what GSK and the media are failing to report are the deadly side effects that may accompany the vaccine.
Unveiled at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s recent Malaria Forum conference in Seattle, Wash., the results of the Phase III African study on the malaria vaccine, known as RTS,S, suggest that children who receive three doses of it can derive additional protection against malaria when used in conjunction with other disease control methods. But the findings also show that vaccinated children are at a high risk of serious injury or death as well.
Harold
ACGR's "News with Attitude" 