Malaria vaccine: between hopes and fears

Abstract

By all accounts and standards malaria, the hemolytic disease caused by a mosquito¬vectored parasite, appears the most intractable health menace of mankind as it affects several millions of people worldwide and claims over a million lives annually especially in developing countries. Ironically though, the etiologic microorganism responsible for malaria appears also to be one of the most studied among all disease-causing pathogens. In fact, apart from a few sporadic episodes and very isolated cases recorded in the past few decades, malaria has essentially been successfully eradicated in all industrialized and rich countries. In this nations, a fine tuned combination of environmental sanitation, preventive surveillance, prompt treatment of all suspect cases and adequate national healthcare systems has successfully kept any dangers of disease resurgence at arms length. As a consequence, these countries have been declared malaria-free by the World Health Organization (WHO). Conversely, for many developing countries inadequate healthcare systems coupled with lack of basic infrastructure has rendered epidemiological studies and disease outbreak surveillance essentially impracticable, rendered preventive measures impossible or ineffective and reduced to nothingness the haphazard attempts at therapy. This paper offers a brief overview of problems that bedevilled earlier attempts at vaccine development, the current efforts and the contribution of modern biotechnology to the development of a malaria vaccine and looks at the potential dangers that could accompany a future vaccine against this long-lasting plague of Africa.

Nigerian Medical Practitioner Vol. 49(5) 2006: 120-125