WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - An experimental malaria vaccine proved highly effective in a small, early-stage clinical trial in people, raising hope in the global effort to combat the deadly disease, U.S. researchers reported yesterday in the journal Science. “This was something that everybody said was not possible. And here it is,” Navy Captain Judith Epstein, one of the researchers, said in a telephone interview. “We’re in the first stages now of really being able to have a completely effective vaccine,” said Epstein, who said hopes to see licensing of the vaccine within three to five years.