A recent study published in the journal Nature Reviews Microbiology reviewed malaria vaccines and their successes and failures. Nearly half of the world’s population is at risk of malaria, with pregnant individuals and young children being the most vulnerable. Females and children develop partial immunity over time, which suggests the possibility of vaccines.
Malaria often manifests as non-specific flu-like symptoms, causing misdiagnosis and treatment delay. Clinical features range from mild symptoms to severe complications, and mortality remains high without swift treatment. Review: Malaria vaccines: a new era of prevention and control .
Image Credit: Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock Malaria killed over 600,000 people in 2022, a death toll that has not improved since 2015. Five Plasmodium species cause malaria in humans: P. falciparum, P.
vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae, and P.
knowlesi . Among these, P. falciparum accounts for the most cases and deaths.
Malaria can persist despite treatment and pre-existing immunity. Drug resistance of parasites and insecticide resistance of mosquitoes impair malaria control. Additionally, parasites and mosquitoes resistant to existing interventions are spreading across Africa and other regions.
A report highlighted that climate-induced factors such as food and economic insecurity could displace non-immune groups to endemic areas, thereby increasing the risk of malaria transmission. An illustration of the life cycle of the malaria parasite. The 2.