A New Look into a Malaria-preventing Antibody

​​New research indicates a potential breakthrough in finding a long-lasting malaria vaccine. Malaria is transmitted to humans through the bite of the Anopheles species of mosquito, however it is preventable and treatable. Currently, we do not have an effective and long lasting vaccine and with 200 million people worldwide suffering from malaria and another 3 billion in 97 countries at risk, an enhanced vaccine could help the fight towards the eradication.

Neville and colleagues (2018) have discovered a human antibody able to prevent malaria in house mice. The monoclonal antibody CIS43 was shown to protect malaria-infected mice in two different models. Specifically, CIS43 protects against the Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) circumsporozoite protein (PfCSP) when the mice are already immunized with the Pf whole-sporozoite (SPZ) vaccine. The combination of the SPZ vaccine and the CIS43 antibody could be the next step in the development of an improved vaccine, and providing hope for future malaria prevention.

The study can be found here https://www.nature.com/articles/nm.4512