Progress towards malaria vaccine

Abstract

Resurgence of malaria has reached alarming proportions. The situation has become worse because of the widespread resistance to anti-malarials. Thus malaria vaccine research has become an area of intense activity even though host-parasite interactions are not well understood. Several antigens from different stages of the life cycle of malaria parasite have been identified. It is now clear that both antibodies and cellular immune responses are involved in malaria immunity. At the same time it is becoming clear that plasmodium has developed exquisite mechanism to evade the immune responses mounted by the host. All kinds of vaccine constructs, based on recombinant antigens, synthetic peptides, and direct use of DNA are being attempted and several of these are undergoing human trials. Results of these trials and other research works clearly indicate that malaria vaccine development is hugely complex and success may not come easily.