Malaria: Three-dose Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite (PfSPZ) vaccine shows safety, efficacy in Burkina Faso adults

A three-dose regimen of a whole-parasite vaccine against malaria – called Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite (PfSPZ) vaccine – demonstrated safety and efficacy when tested in adults living in Burkina Faso, West Africa, which has endemic malaria. That is the finding of a  study published in Science Translational Medicine. Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health (CVD) led the work. About 241 million people worldwide were infected with malaria in 2020, and 627,000 people died from their infections. Scientists have tried for decades to develop a highly effective malaria vaccine without much success. That is because the vaccines have been shown not to provide much protection in those who have already been infected with malaria earlier in life due to their acquired immunity. The first vaccine against malaria (RTS,S/AS01) was approved by the World Health Organization in October 2021, and it provides modest protection...