Vaccine for Malaria

The spread of malaria is gradually increasing worldwide, as the parasites and mosquitoes are getting more resistant to the drugs and insecticides. So the current equipments and the prevention programs fail to control the spread of malarial infection. The biggest failure of science is the lack of an effective vaccine to control the malarial infection.

The development of an effective vaccination has been a research topic for the last two decades. However, scientists are optimistic regarding the development of an effective anti-malarial vaccine in future. This type of vaccine may help the humans to fight back the malaria parasite.

Vaccination is an easy method to control the malarial transmission and to curb the extent of the infection. An effective vaccine can prevent the spread of infection to an individual. In case an individual is affected, the transmission level should be decreased.

More than eighty percent of the malarial cases in the world are from Africa. Approximately, one million deaths of children (0-5 years) every year occur in this region. An increasing figure of victims affected is due to their short term immunity to the malarial infection. The anti-malarial vaccine is expected to strengthen the human immunity to resist malaria parasites.

There are some natural changes in the parasite's life cycle that create problems in developing the anti-malarial vaccine. The complex organism of the parasites affects the specific parasite antigen which can be targeted while developing the vaccine.

Since the malaria parasites are large in number, it is difficult to develop a vaccine that can target each parasite. Development of the vaccine depends on the stage of the parasite's life cycle. Hence, the main focus to develop this vaccine is to strengthen the immune response of the host to the malarial infection.

However, there are some vaccines developed to control the malaria parasites. These vaccines are used for different purposes. Some of them are protective, while others are not. Here is the list of the vaccines:

  1. Recombinant Vaccine: It is used to prevent Plasmodium vivax infection to blood.
  2. NYVAC: It controls the transmission of parasite into the mosquito from the human body.
  3. Gamete Vaccine: It blocks the fertilization of the malaria parasite.
  4. Patorraya Vaccine: This vaccine is useful in controlling the development of the parasite in its incubation period. It also helps to produce the antibodies that block the malarial infection to the red blood cells.
  5. C.S.P Vaccine: It is developed in Kenya. However, it is not as protective as it was expected.

    6. These single antigen based vaccines are hardly successful in all the malaria cases because every human being's immune response differs from the other. Hence, multi-antigenic vaccines must be developed to control all types of malaria parasites. This fact leads to various strategies in developing different vaccines for effective control of malaria. According to the World Health Organization, the vaccine will be available by 2012, as the research and development program is in its final stage.