DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2022.v10i06.013

Pages: 934-939

Malaria has been one of humanity’s oldest and deadliest diseases. Despite gains over the first 15 years of this millennium, malaria control has stagnated in the last several years, with resurgence and rising morbidity in several highly endemic countries exacerbated by service disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Malaria imposes great socio-economic burden on humanity, and with six other diseases (diarrhea, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, measles, hepatitis B and pneumonia), accounts for 85% of global infectious disease burden. Malaria is caused by the bite of an infected, female, Anopheline mosquito. Mosquito is at the root of several vector borne diseases including malaria. The mechanism of spread of malaria in the human body has been well studied. Symptoms show up based on the type of organism involved in infection. Eradication of malaria and related diseases depends on eradication of the mosquito. Treatment options involve drugs, natural and synthetic, of which chloroquine occupies the prime position. The good news is that new vaccines may be approved more quickly than RTS,S, both because the malaria vaccine approval process has been streamlined and because of the success in deploying Covid-19 vaccines so quickly. This first vaccine against malaria is a breakthrough, but not the only breakthrough we need. While we should celebrate this milestone, the time to advance next-generation vaccines is now.