Incidence rates of malaria, meningitis, and mortality in children younger than 5 years: a prospective cohort study in Ghana and Kenya before the roll-out of the RTS,S/AS01E malaria vaccine from 2016 to 2022

Abstract

The RTS,S/AS01E malaria vaccine was introduced in selected communities of Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi in 2019 under a WHO-coordinated pilot programme. The scarcity of background disease incidence rates might hamper the assessment of vaccine safety and effectiveness. We aimed to determine the incidence rates of malaria, meningitis, and death, and health outcomes leading to hospital admission in children younger than 5 years enrolled before RTS,S/AS01E implementation. Interim results from EPI-MAL-002 up to Oct 5, 2018, were reported previously. Here, we report results from the final analysis of the pre-vaccine introduction study.