Getting closer to a vaccine against malaria

Abstract

Despite recent progress in the control of malaria in several countries, this disease still kills nearly one million young children in sub-Saharan Africa each year and it contributes significantly to poverty in many of the poorest countries in the world. The effective use of existing control tools (insecticide-impregnated bed nets, residual insecticide spraying and early case detection with effective treatment) should eliminate malaria from additional regions but global eradication of malaria is not feasible without the development of a highly effective vaccine. The most advanced malaria vaccine, known as RTS,S, is likely to be licensed for use in the next few years. The protective efficacy of RTS,S is unlikely to exceed 50% but numerous other approaches to vaccinating against malaria are showing some promise and, consequently, there are good prospects that a second-generation malaria vaccine will be much more effective.