New Malaria Vaccine

Cassie Goodman and Dylan Karle

Malaria

• Mosquito-borne infectious disease caused by a parasite: Plasmodium– Parasite Plasmodium multiply in the liver and infect red blood

cells• Transmitted through mosquitoes• Common symptoms: fever,

headache, vomiting, muscle pains, chills– 10-15 days after bite

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_nOgu8OnZA&feature=related

Spread of Malaria• Widespread in tropical and sub-tropical areas

– Parts of the Americas, Asia and Africa• Around 350-500 million cases a year that kill 1-3 million people

– 90% of Malaria-caused deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa– Majority are young children in Sub-Saharan Africa

• Immunity can develop naturally, but only after repeated infections of different strains of malaria

Vaccine Need

• Children are usually most vulnerable to malaria, because they have not built up a natural immunity like some adults– In Africa, 1 child dies of malaria every 30 seconds

• There are some ways to prevent malaria (killing infected mosquitoes, bed nets) and some medications to treat the parasite

• An effective vaccine is the key steptoward eradicating the disease

FMP2.1/AS02A

• Researchers are finding strong and long-lasting responses to a new vaccine for children– Being studied on children in Mali

• The vaccine produces antibody levels that are as high or higher then those of people who have become naturally immune– The vaccine can reproduce the natural protective

immunity that usually takes years of intense exposure to malaria to develop

FMP2.1/AS02A

• Consists of a form of the AMA-1 protein and the AS02 Adjuvant System– Adjuvant System is a compound that boosts the immune

response to the vaccine• Based on a single strain of the falciparum malaria

parasite – the most common and deadliest form of the parasite found in Africa

• Targets the blood stage– The period after the mosquito bite – when the parasite

multiplies in the blood– Causes the disease and death

Studies

• Other blood stage vaccines have been tested but none have shown the ability to prevent malaria

• Previous studies with the new vaccine in the US and Mali have found the vaccine to be safe and produce strong immune responses in adults

• Tested in 100 Malian children ages 1-6– Children were randomly assigned either one of three

escalating doses of the new vaccine or a control rabies vaccine– All three doses of the vaccine proved to be safe, well

tolerated, and had strong antibody responses that were sustained for at least 1 year

More Studies

• Since the earlier trial, researchers are now conducting a larger trial of 400 Malian children – This trial will also examine if the vaccine can

protect against multiple malaria parasites – even though it is only based on a single strain

• Scientists hope that the vaccine could be combined with other vaccines and create a highly protective multi-component immunization

Sources

• http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100203201425.htm

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria