Malaria vaccine to protect pregant women

"Each year, 25 million pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa run the risk of contracting malaria." Women who become infected during their first pregnancy are at the most risk for severe anemia and poor fetal growth. "The malaria parasites accumulate in the placenta, resulting in children being born prematurely and underweight." Maternal malaria causes the death of approximately 200,000 infants and 10,000 women each year

"Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have become the first in the world to synthesize the entire protein that is responsible for life-threatening malaria in pregnant women and their unborn children. The protein known as VAR2CSA enables malaria parasites to accumulate in the placenta and can therefore potentially be used as the main component in a vaccine to trigger antibodies that protect pregnant women against malaria. The research team is now planning to test the efficacy of the protein-based vaccine on humans."

"The hope is that within 10 years all African girls could be vaccinated against maternal malaria, thereby preventing more than 200,000 deaths a year." The vaccine "elicits antibodies that stop the [malaria] parasite from binding to the placenta." Laboratory testing is underway, and the vaccine can already be tested in animals.

"These antibodies seem to be effective at preventing the parasite from accumulating in the placental tissue. The next step is to investigate whether we can elicit the same antibodies and so protect against the disease by vaccinating humans. Then the vaccine will be a reality."

Source:
University of Copenhagen (2010, February 5). Vaccine to protect pregnant women from contracting malaria?. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 12, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2010/02/100204144433.htm

Pregnant women at risk

Pregnancy, for most women, means planning for a safe and healthy baby, but in malaria-endemic regions, fear of mortality outweighs hope. At "least 125.2 million women" who are at risk of contracting malaria "become pregnant each year".

Malaria during pregnancy creates disaster, causing "miscarriages, preterm births," low-birth-rate, and death. "About 10,000 women and 200,000 babies die annually because of malaria" during pregnancy. "Most malaria deaths are caused by Plasmodium falciparum, which thrives in tropical and sub-tropical regions", but "the most widespread type of malaria is P. vivax malaria, which also occurs in temperate regions." Estimates on the burden of malaria were previously only available for Africa", but now include lesser-realized endemic regions.

"The researchers estimated the sizes of populations at risk of malaria in 2007 by combining maps of the global limits of P. vivax and P. falciparum transmission with data on population densities. They used data from various sources to calculate the annual number of pregnancies (the sum of live births, induced abortions, miscarriages and still births) in each country. They calculated the annual number of pregnancies at risk of malaria in each country by multiplying the number of pregnancies in the entire country by the fraction of the population living within the spatial limits of malaria transmission in that country."

"This study contributes to the global understanding of the risk of malaria in pregnancy. In 2007, 54.7 million pregnancies occurred in areas with stable P. falciparum malaria and a further 70.5 million in areas with exceptionally low malaria transmission or with P. vivax only. This marks the first time species specific risks have been estimated globally for malaria in pregnancy."


Source:
Dellicour S, Tatem AJ, Guerra CA, Snow RW, ter Kuile FO. Quantifying the Number of Pregnancies at Risk of Malaria in 2007: A Demographic Study. PLoS Medicine, 2010; 7 (1): e1000221 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000221