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Control of malaria

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery volume 9, pages 511–512 (2010)Cite this article

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The life cycle of malaria parasites is complex, passing through several stages in mosquitoes and in humans. Sporozoite-stage parasites are transmitted to humans by a mosquito bite, and initially infect liver cells, where they develop into the merozoite stage2,3. Following rupture of liver cells, merozoites are released into the bloodstream where they infect and destroy red blood cells, leading to fever, anaemia, cerebral malaria and death if the disease is untreated2,3.

During the various life-cycle stages, the parasite synthesizes a range of molecules required for its survival and entry into host cells, which have been the target for the development of vaccines2,3 (Box 1). However, the host–parasite interactions are complex, making the development of an effective prophylactic vaccine highly challenging, and current approaches to controlling malaria rely on preventing infection — for example, by using insecticide-impregnated bed nets — and treatment with antimalarial drugs.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Santosh Kar is a Professor at the Immunology Laboratory, School of Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. santoshkariis@rediffmail.com,

    Santosh Kar

  2. Santwana Kar was a visiting fellow in the Immunology Laboratory at the School of Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India at the time of writing. santwanakar@gmail.com,

    Santwana Kar

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  1. Santwana Kar
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  2. Santosh Kar
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Kar, S., Kar, S. Control of malaria. Nat Rev Drug Discov 9, 511–512 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd3207

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