Every week I check the news in the malaria world to see if there is anything of interest. This week there was a press release from the WHO announcing the Shipment of newest malaria vaccine, R21, to Central African Republic and claiming it marks latest milestone for child survival. Needless to say I was intrigued because when I completed my recent book, Malaria is spread by mosquitos? such evidence was not available.
I contacted the WHO, GAVI and UNICEF email addresses on the press release and WHO were good enough to respond. I was provided with a reference to a Lancet article Safety and efficacy of malaria vaccine candidate R21/Matrix-M in African children: a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, phase 3 trial by Datoo et al. of the Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine, The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford and the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford, UK.
I was very surprised to find out in the first few lines of the paper that it was a double-blind randomised study and the control group received an Indian rabies vaccine called Abhayrab. Listed on the netmeds website are the following side effects, and a lot more on the topic.
SIDE EFFECTS OF ABHAYRAB PF VACCINE
COMMON
- Headache, dizziness
- Rash, hives
- General discomfort
- Fatigue, weakness
- Fever
- Swollen glands
- Decreased appetite
- Nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach pain
- Muscle pain, joint pain
- Pain, redness, swelling, itching or bruising at the site of injection
- Hardness of the skin at the site of injection
RARE
- Tingling sensations
- Sweating, chills
Stop receiving ABHAYRAB PF VACCINE and contact your doctor if you experience any of the following side effects: Signs of anaphylactic reactions (serious allergic reactions) such as shock (severe drop of blood pressure), itching, skin rash, swelling of face and/or neck, breathing difficulties, bluish discoloration of the tongue or lips, low blood pressure, rapid heart rate, weak pulse, skin coldness, dizziness and fainting
From April 26, 2021, to Jan 12, 2022, researchers from Oxford poisoned 5477 children in Burkina Faso with R21 or Abhayrab. Why is one supposed to take such a study seriously? R21 is marginally less toxic than a toxic vaccine against rabies, another dubious disease.