The university has a long-standing tradition researching the disease

Sep 26, 2011 13:46 GMT  ·  By

A group of experts at the Michigan State University (MSU) announce the development of a new vaccine against malaria, one that takes an innovative route towards destroying the parasite that produces the disease.

According to the investigators, the vaccine relies on the use of a disabled cold virus, which is augmented with a gene that stimulates the immune system. What this combo does is it forces the immune system of the infected host to spring into action.

When this happens, the parasite is attacked relentlessly, and eventually destroyed. In many cases, the reason why various diseases persist is not because they have tremendous defensive capabilities, but because the immune system cannot or will not activate to fight the corruption.

The fact that the MSU group was able to develop a novel approach towards treating – and potentially curing – malaria is tremendously important, since the disease infects millions around the world, and still kills around 1 million people each year, of which a large number are children.

Researchers led by MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine professor Andrea Analfitano also managed to identify a stimulant agent that they wanted to use for malaria, but which instead turned out to be much more effective at fighting HIV.

By using the data made available by this research, scientists will be able to improve the overall effectiveness of vaccine platforms, now in use against a wide range of diseases. Amalfitano says that the team is expecting to see human clinical trials of the new vaccine soon.

Details of the study results were published in the latest issue of the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLoS ONE, which is edited by the Public Library of Science. Other researchers will most likely attempt to improve on the data presented by this study, and could end up creating new vaccines, too.

“Researchers across the globe are working on ways to prevent people from becoming infected with malaria,” Amalfitano explains, adding that, according to official statistics, most malaria victims are located in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Some vaccines are showing promise, but they are not as effective as they need to be for any mass distribution,” the team leader explains. The MSU group's own approach revolves around attacking the Circumsporozoite Protein (CSP) on the malaria parasite.

“What we are looking to do is improve the ability of the vaccine to induce immune responses to that protein. We are adding genes to the vaccine to try and stimulate the immune system,” Amalfitano concludes.