First Malaria Vaccine a Major Milestone Despite Hurdles Ahead

December 3, 2021

December 2, 2021

The parasite that causes malaria can kill a person within 24 hours of symptoms appearing. Patients’ symptoms are flu-like, including a fever, headache, and chills. It all starts with a microscopic poke.

When a malaria-infected mosquito plunges her needle-like mouth through human skin, she releases immature forms of the parasites, called sporozoites, into the person’s bloodstream. From there, they travel to the liver, then to red blood cells. The infected cells burst, releasing millions of daughter parasites called merozoites, which infect other red blood cells. The cycle persists until the parasites are killed — and that’s becoming harder to do.

During the first 15 years of this century, worldwide efforts to curb malaria cut cases by 40%, and deaths fell by more than 60%. But in 2015, that progress plateaued. Since then, malaria has been quietly rising after cases had been falling steadily for over a decade.

Read more at WebMD.

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