Malaria Vaccine Developers Find New Target to Fight the Disease

Millions of malaria cases are diagnosed each year across the globe with a majority coming from Africa. These cases also account for hundreds of thousands of deaths, but researchers believe they have now found a target to effectively attack malaria.

Over the past 40-plus years, researchers have developed about 100 vaccines for the mosquito-borne illness, but none have been able to treat all of those infected. Some vaccines can be effective in treating young children, which is significant since a majority of malaria deaths is in that demographic, but hundreds of thousands of children still die each year as a result of the disease.

As of now, the only effective ways to reduce malaria cases and deaths are through prevention and control efforts conducted by global organizations, which include case management, insecticide-treated nets, intermittent preventive treatment (in pregnant women and infancy), and indoor residual spraying. A new vaccine, though, could save time, health, and money for those providing relief efforts to the disease-ridden African countries.

Dr. Jonathan Kurtis of the Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University felt responsible to search for a vaccine after he developed a serious case of malaria while studying abroad in Kenya during his college years. He and his research team identified the new target that can be treated to fight the malaria. They began their studies with blood samples collected from children in Tanzania. After careful examination of these samples, the researchers found small differences in those who merely contracted malaria versus those who developed a severe case.

"We're finding the rare needle in a haystack, the rare parasite protein that generates a protective immune response," said Dr. Kurtis in this NPR article. "Our parasite protein is critical for the parasite's escape from the red cell, and it needs to escape from the red cell if it's going to go on and infect other red cells and multiply."

Kurtis and his colleagues reported their findings in the latest issue of Science magazine, and note that they're still a long way from a vaccine that can be used in humans, but their research is significant up until this point.

As time progresses, it's likely that information will be provided on the status of the study because malaria numbers are not on the decline. In 2010, over 219 million cases of the disease were reported worldwide. Dr. Kurtis hopes he can help those who experienced what he did.