Radboudumc Nijmegen tests new vaccine against malaria

Radboudumc is testing a new vaccine against malaria, which has largely been developed in Nijmegen. The first volunteers were vaccinated today.

Malaria parasites are transmitted from one person to another via the malaria mosquito. If the mosquito sucks blood from someone who has malaria and then goes to someone else, they can also get malaria.

The vaccine will not prevent a person from getting malaria, but it will prevent it from spreading to other people, reports Gelderland broadcaster.

The vaccine produces antibodies against a protein that plays an important role in the transmission of the malaria parasite to the mosquito. By switching off this protein, the formation of new parasites in the mosquito is blocked. This prevents other people from being infected by a mosquito bite.

The vaccine was developed together with the Statens Serum Institut in Denmark. In the first phase of the study, the safety of the vaccine is investigated in volunteers. It is also examined whether antibodies are indeed formed in the blood of the volunteers that can prevent the transmission of malaria.

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