Vaccines against Asexual Stage Malaria Parasites

More than 100 years after the first identification of the malaria parasite by Dr. Lavern in 1861, the number of reported cases and deaths caused by malaria parasites are on the rise. According to a recent estimate about 2 billion people are living in areas where malaria is transmitted, with 300-500 million clinical cases, and over 1 million deaths each year. Although a proportion of these increases can be accounted for by the growing human population living in tropical areas, the fact remains that the parasite is endemic in most parts of the tropics where Anopheles mosquitoes are present, despite decades of effort aimed at control or eradication. The exceptions are major cities and a few rural areas where a high standard of living is associated with adequate vector control and rapid case identification and treatment, or where pollution and other environmental changes have rendered conditions unsuitable for the vector. Drug resistance and in some cases insecticide resistance have aggravated the problem.