Two papers published in The New England Journal of Medicine are reporting the success of a pair of new vaccines tested in children in Africa. And experts say the results may open the door to sweeping trials of the vaccines in seven African nations by early 2009 and a completed formulation ready for approval by 2011. “We are,” Christian Loucq, director of the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, tells Time, “one step closer to the day when malaria will join diseases like smallpox and polio.”

One study involved 340 infants in Tanzania, who were given standard pediatric immunizations against a range of diseases, including diphtheria, tetanus and polio. Half the group also received the malaria vaccine, and the other half a hepatitis B vaccine to make sure both groups had the same number of shots. In the group receiving the malaria vaccine, the risk of getting infected with malaria was reduced by 65%, when compared with the other group.

In a separate trial to test efficacy, researchers used a slightly different version of the malaria vaccine - one containing a different adjuvant. They vaccinated 809 children in Kenya and Tanzania with either the malaria vaccine or a rabies vaccine. After eight months, 32 of 402 children in the malaria vaccine group, or 8 percent, developed clinical malaria, versus 66 of 407 children, or 16 percent, in the group given the rabies shot (this is the study).

In an editorial, two scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta noted the studies were carried out in countries where use of bed nets and anti-malarial drugs have dramatically reduced the number of malaria cases. In other words, they believe the vaccine needs to be tested in areas with higher rates of malaria. Just the same, the results were called a “hopeful beginning.”

For background, please see Time, The Wall Street Journal and the Glaxo statement.