Malaria: pathology, immune response, and vaccine design: A mini review
Henry S Pan and Haley O Tucker
Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease for which nearly half the world’s population is at risk, with most
cases occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. A significant number of deaths of children under the age of
5 have resulted from cerebral malaria. Ongoing treatments, such as quinine, have existed for over
300 years, and recent treatments have incorporated artesunate. However, effective treatments still
are necessary in order to prevent malaria and the resulting symptomology. Ongoing work has been
conducted to investigate the underlying mechanism of the disease and how the body addresses it
through innate and adaptive immunity. The aim of this review is to explore the current understanding
of the immune response to malaria’s progression in the liver, bloodstream, and brain as well as to
assess recent developments in engineering an efficacious vaccine.
