Malaria vaccination: What you can and cannot do

The first Malaria vaccine offers only partial protection. However, any other immunization that may change soon. Researchers are optimistic.

A boy at CERMEL in Gabon is removed in the context of a Malaria-study blood.

What is the current Malaria vaccination?

In a pilot experiment for this week is the first Malaria vaccine ‘RTS,S will be tested in a vaccination campaign in Malawi. In Ghana and Kenya it is supposed to start in the coming week. But Malaria researchers are not yet satisfied: “RTS,S, the is Best what we have so far developed, it shows a vaccine is possible but the efficacy is simply not good enough,” says Prof. Peter Kremsner, Director of the Institute for tropical medicine of the University of Tübingen.

Because of three decades of developed vaccine ‘RTS,S’ prevented in previous studies, barely a third of the Malaria-diseases of the WHO, 75 per cent or more would be desired. In addition, the protective effect within a period of four years.

The reason is that the ‘RTS to bring S’ vaccine uses a single Protein of the most common in Africa,occurring Malaria pathogen Plasmodium falciparum, the immune system against the parasite in position. However, an immune response to a Protein of the pathogen also means that the immune system again and again, invaders miss and it comes to Malaria. In addition, there are in addition to the Plasmodium falciparum other Malaria pathogen, against which the ‘RTS,S’ is not effective vaccination.

More: World’s biggest vaccination campaign against Malaria start in Africa

Prof. Peter Kremsner with a colleague in Gabon

Why you need a vaccination?

Still, thousands of people die each year from Malaria. 435,000 people there were in the world in the year 2017. The majority of them children under five years of age. Over 90 percent of the death cases recorded on the African continent. And after the malaria case numbers were long in decline, have increased, according to the world health organization (WHO) in the last two years. “It seems we’ve maxed the previous methods for Malaria containment. The tools we can use today, seem to be able to no further reduction in the number of cases”, presumed to be of tropical medicine Prof. Benjamin murder müller of the University of Tübingen. Thus, the pressure to develop an effective vaccine increases.

What is failed to be an effective Malaria vaccine so far?

The Malaria pathogen is a parasite and not a bacterium or a Virus like many other infectious diseases. This parasite is living through a complex cycle with different life stages, both in mosquitoes and in humans. Therefore, it was to teach is particularly difficult for the human immune system with a vaccination, as it can detect the Malaria parasites and fought.

“The science has 50 years of single-surface structures in the Malaria parasite attempts to isolate so – called antigens for vaccination. All potential vaccine candidates, however, have failed”, explains Prof. Kremsner.

More: dogs detect Malaria at the smell of socks

Malaria mosquito of the genus Anopheles gambiae

At the Institute for tropical medicine in Tübingen, scientists have now opted for a different approach – a live vaccine, in which the real causative agent is injected. “In the past, it was with such a complex pathogen such as the Malaria is not possible,” says Prof. murder müller, who is involved in the research project.

With the support of the Biotech company Sanaria in the United States, the researchers succeeded in mosquitoes occurring Form of the Malaria parasite called sporozoites to breed in the laboratory in large quantities. These sporozoites are frozen and are the Basis for the new live vaccine.

• 
  Sharks and Scorpions? The most deadly animals in the world other than you think

  11. Great White Shark

  Deaths per year: about 10. Wolves and some species of sharks can do us, without a doubt, to kill, but very few of them. Both kill per year, only about 10 people in the world. The likelihood that you will be killed by the Toaster in the kitchen, is greater.

• 
  Sharks and Scorpions? The most deadly animals in the world other than you think

  10. Lions and elephants

  Deaths per year: approximately 100. Lions also kill people, is nothing New. Something surprising is that every year, killed about the same number of people by elephants like lions. The largest land creatures of the earth can be quite aggressive, and if it is in a state of Rage, it has obviously, the mass and power to be dangerous.

• 
  Sharks and Scorpions? The most deadly animals in the world other than you think

  9. Hippos

  Deaths per year: about 500. There are countless children’s toys in the Form of “Hippo” and why? They look cute with their round noses and fat bellies. And there are herbivores! But don’t let that fool you. The animals are very aggressive and go without provocation on people, so rather out of the way.

• 
  Sharks and Scorpions? The most deadly animals in the world other than you think

  8. Crocodiles

  Deaths per year: about 1000. Many people have crocodiles as much fear as sharks or lions, and rightly so. Crocodiles are carnivores and kill prey that is much larger than you are. This also includes small hippos, water Buffalo, and in the case of salt-water sharks, crocodiles even.

• 
  Sharks and Scorpions? The most deadly animals in the world other than you think

  7. Tape worms

  Deaths per year: CA. 2000. Tapeworms are parasitic flatworms that live in the digestive tract of vertebrates. You enter through contaminated food or worms larvae in raw meat in the body. The infection can be treated, but since many people in the world have a supply is not a sufficient health, kill the parasites still 200 times as many people as sharks.

• 
  Sharks and Scorpions? The most deadly animals in the world other than you think

  6. Roundworms

  Deaths per year: approximately 2500. Roundworms are also parasites that you can catch, similar to tapeworms. But they do not stay in the digestive tract. They hatch in the intestine, burrow through the intestinal wall, migrate via the bloodstream to the lungs, then the trachea, swallowed and end up back in the intestine, where they grow up. A billion people have parasites.

• 
  Sharks and Scorpions? The most deadly animals in the world other than you think

  5. Snails (Schistosomiasis) / Assassin Bug (Chagas Disease) / Tsetse Fly (Sleeping Sickness)

  Deaths per year: about 10,000. Place 5 share 3 Killer. However, it is not the animals themselves that kill, but the parasites they transmit. Schistosomiasis, one gets by contact with contaminated water (parasites, snails need as intermediate host). Chagas disease and sleeping sickness are transmitted by insect bites.

• 
  Sharks and Scorpions? The most deadly animals in the world other than you think

  4. Dog (Rabies)

  Deaths per year: about 25,000. Rabies is a malicious virus infection that can be transmitted by many animals. Where rabies is common in dogs, they get people but 99% of our four-legged friends. It can take months, until the fatal symptoms appear. The good news is that There are vaccinations and in most of the developed countries, there are only a few cases.

• 
  Sharks and Scorpions? The most deadly animals in the world other than you think

  3. Snakes

  Deaths per year: approximately 50,000. Yes: In case of doubt, you should make the snakes a wide berth. Many species are not deadly, some are toxic, but there are plenty of dangerous snakes in order to make the reptiles to become the third biggest human killer in the world.

• 
  Sharks and Scorpions? The most deadly animals in the world other than you think

  2. People

  Deaths per year: approximately 475.000. Yes, we managed to get it on the list. Finally, we are incredibly creative when it comes to us killing each other. Sad but true, we occupy the second place.

• 
  Sharks and Scorpions? The most deadly animals in the world other than you think

  1. The Mosquito

  Deaths per year: approximately 725,000 of. You are living in Germany, you are at most a nuisance. In other Parts of the world, you can bring death. And again, it is the transmitted diseases and not the mosquito itself to kill. Above all, Malaria is deadly, but also dengue fever, yellow fever and encephalitis are transmitted by mosquitoes.

  Author: Harald Franzen

How does this new vaccination?

The new of the tübingen researchers vaccine, co-developed the sporozoites with the radio attenuated radiation before injecting them as a vaccine. The result: the Malaria pathogen lives long enough in the human body, to produce a reaction of the immune system, dies, but before he can make the injected sick people. In Tübingen, this new Form of Malaria, was tested in vaccination in healthy Europeans successfully. “With very high efficiencies,” promises Prof. Kremsner. The advantage compared to the “RTS,S”vaccine: the immune system now reacts to all the parasites, not on a single Protein and, thus, the effectiveness increases.

Who could protect the new vaccine?

As a vaccination for travelers in Malaria-‘m going to give areas the new vaccine in a few years, since Prof. Kremsner is sure. Whether the effectiveness in Africa, similar, will show up at the end of this year, when there were the first results from an ongoing Phase II study in children in Gabon. “At the Moment it looks everything very well. I would have said, ‘RTS, S’ never,” says the tropical medicine Kremsner, who was also involved in the authorisation of ‘RTS,S’.

More: Is Malaria, with Gene Drive to completely eradicate?

• 
  Malaria – one mosquito bite can kill

  A mosquito beats

  For sure, the most dangerous animal in Africa is the mosquito, which is about six mm small Anopheles: it transmits Malaria. This infectious disease around half a Million people die each year. Malaria sufferers suffer from a high recurrent fever, chills, and cramps. Especially in the case of small children, the disease can quickly lead to death.

• 
  Malaria – one mosquito bite can kill

  It all begins in the mosquito

  The Anopheles mosquito bites an infected human, the malaria pathogens; the next stitch, you pass it to some other people. Researchers have highlighted the causative agent here in the picture with a green glowing protein. As the green glow reveals, multiply the parasite in the gut of the mosquito and accumulate in their salivary glands.

• 
  Malaria – one mosquito bite can kill

  Pathogens for the research crops

  The biological Name of the Malarierregers is Plasmodium. To investigate, remove, researchers infected Anopheles mosquitoes, the salivary glands and isolate the parasites. Because in the saliva of the mosquito, the infectious Form of the parasite accumulates experts call this Form of sporozoites. To the right in the image, the mosquito is seen, in the middle of the extracted salivary glands.

• 
  Malaria – one mosquito bite can kill

  Mosquito – Human – Mosquito

  In fact, the human is the intermediate host of the malaria parasite, definitive host is the mosquito. In the us, the pathogen asexually reproduces real: first in the liver then in red blood cells. A part of the parasites is, after all, female and male cells. These are taken up by a mosquito and reproduce into her sex. The circle is complete.

• 
  Malaria – one mosquito bite can kill

  Malaria run in a circle

  Since the malaria sporozoites are curved, move in a circle, when researchers apply them, as here, on a piece of glass with liquid. The parasites are coloured yellow, their trajectory is in blue. The pathogens are fast: For a circle you only need about 30 seconds. In their hosts they are distracted by the obstacles of the circle and then run straight.

• 
  Malaria – one mosquito bite can kill

  Twelve days between the stab and the outbreak of the disease

  In the human malaria pathogen invades for a few days in the liver. Meanwhile, the Affected person won’t notice. It is only when the parasite has converted in the liver to the small grape-shaped merozoites, which leave the body and the blood cells are affected, the Patient feels sick.

• 
  Malaria – one mosquito bite can kill

  Malaria pathogens in the blood

  The parasites need one to three days to multiply in the red blood cells. Then the blood to disintegrate the cells and release of many Mature malaria pathogens and toxic substances from the metabolism of the parasites. The Consequence Is Fever. Under the microscope the disease is diagnose after Staining to The purple-dyed exciter to fall in the blood smear immediately.

• 
  Malaria – one mosquito bite can kill

  Around the Equator

  Malaria is a typical tropical disease: it occurs where it is hot and humid. Some scientists had feared that the Malaria will spread due to climate change. Recent studies come to a different conclusion: in fact, your distribution area, taking continuously, as more and more swamps were drained.

• 
  Malaria – one mosquito bite can kill

  Mosquito Nets = Life Saver

  The best remedy against Malaria is to be not bitten by a mosquito. While Repellents – Mosquito repellents to apply Cream and of course mosquito nets, the fine mesh keep mosquitoes help. To sleep under a mosquito net can save lives!

• 
  Malaria – one mosquito bite can kill

  Double Protection

  Researchers have developed a mosquito net that is intended to protect especially In the fibers of the nets an insecticide is woven, which is continuously free. The drug kills all of the mosquitoes on the mosquito net.

• 
  Malaria – one mosquito bite can kill

  Poison weapon against Malaria

  Malaria takes the risk out of hand, grab the Affected often to harsh means, and spraying the bulk insect poison, like here in Mumbai, India. Such an insecticide is the substance DDT is effective against mosquitoes, but as part of the “dirty dozen” bad for health and the environment: It is very durable and accumulates in the food chain.

• 
  Malaria – one mosquito bite can kill

  Quick Diagnosis

  Rapid Malaria tests can prove within minutes malaria pathogen in a drop of blood. Here is the “Doctors without borders to examine” a boy in the African state of Mali. His Test is positive. The Boy gets drugs, and two days later, healthy again. Such rapid tests do not work, however, is always reliable.

• 
  Malaria – one mosquito bite can kill

  Race against time

  Medicines to destroy the parasites in the blood, or prevent it from multiplying. However, the pathogens become resistant to the drug – some drugs such as chloroquine do not work anymore in many areas. Also counterfeit Drugs with little active ingredient to promote resistance. The only way out: to develop new medicines.

• 
  Malaria – one mosquito bite can kill

  Well bedded against Malaria

  Also with a new vaccine, it is therefore continue to be: to protect Yourself from mosquito bites is key.

  Author: Brigitte Osterath