This is FANTASTIC news!
A new, experimental, vaccine for the most deadly strains (if not all) of malaria is showing early promise — which is such a great thing.
In animals, the vaccine stopped Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that is responsible for 9 out of 10 malaria deaths!
Apparently the achilles heel of the parasite is a protein called RH5. Blocking this protein stops it from latching onto the host’s cells.
If the safety tests go well, we could be seeing clinical tests in two to three years… which means we might have a vaccine readily available within the decade!!
Good luck to everyone involved, this is major!
[Image via AP Images.]
Dec 21, 2011 20:00pm PDT
