Prospects for vaccination against malaria in man.

Rodents have been successfully protected against a challenge of viable Plasmodium berghei by employing as vaccine: (1) the irradiated blood stages of the same parasite, or (2) the water-insoluble fraction of the blood stages, or (3) irradiated sporozoites; all these vaccines were shown to be stage-specific. A method is outlined for testing in the field, in the absence of any risks, the efficacy of analogous vaccines against falciparum malaria in man. It is emphasized that: (1) the efficacy of the vaccines can be tested in no model but only against P. falciparum in man; (2) the protection should be measured in terms of (a) prevention of morbidity, and (b) prevention of mortality; and (3) research must be intensified in order to meet, as needed, the requirements of mass production of merozoites and/or sporozoites, and to find ways to increase the human immune response to a higher level of protection against P. falciparum.