Malaria Vaccine In Human Trials Stage

A weakened strain of the malaria parasite, created by a team of Australian scientists, in collaboration with researchers from the US, Japan and Canada, will be used as a live vaccine against the disease.

The vaccine will be trailed in humans from early next year at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Maryland, US.

Malaria - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Prevention, Treatment
Malaria is caused by a parasite that enters blood through the bite of an infected mosquito. It is characterized by fever, vomiting, shivering, sweating and other symptoms.

An article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA outlines how the researchers deleted two key genes in the Plasmodium falciparum parasite - which causes the form of malaria most deadly to humans - while developing the vaccine.

By removing the genes, the malaria parasite is halted during its liver infection phase, preventing it from spreading to the blood stream where it can cause severe disease and death.

Professor Alan Cowman, head of Melbourne's Walter and Eliza Hall Institute's Infection and Immunity division, said similar vaccines had been tested in mice and offered 100 per cent protection against malaria infection.

About Mosquito Diseases
Mosquito-borne diseases, like malaria, filaria, dengue, etc are common in places conducive of mosquito breeding. Swamps, ponds and stagnated drainage provide optimal breeding ground for mosquitoes.

He said it was hoped the vaccine would produce similar results in humans.

"Although two genes have been deleted the parasite is still alive and able to stimulate the body's protective immune system to recognize and destroy incoming mosquito-transmitted deadly parasites," Cowman said.

Experimental Malaria Vaccine Shows Promise in Clinical Trials
An experimental malaria vaccine was able to reduce the rate of infection and disease in children by 53 to 65 percent in two clinical trials conducted in Africa, according to studies released Monday.

This approach to vaccine development - using a weakened form of the whole organism that causes a particular disease - has proven successful in eradicating smallpox and controlling diseases such as flu and polio.

Cowman said the research team had used knowledge from several decades ago - when scientists proved that irradiated malaria parasites provide protection against subsequent malaria infection in animal models and humans - in developing the vaccine.

Potential Protein Targets for Malaria Vaccine Identified
Researchers from Nijmegen and Leiden have found potential malarial therapeutic targets that may in the development of a vaccine to treat the disease.

"Although vaccines are under development that use whole malaria parasites weakened by irradiation to protect against infection, their safety and effectiveness rely on a precise irradiation dose and trial results have been variable," Cowman said.

"We believe that our genetically attenuated parasite approach provides a safe and reproducible way of developing a whole organism malaria vaccine," Cowman added.

Source-ANI