Nasal vaccine gives hope in fight against malaria

A new malaria vaccine has performed well in recent tests, it has been revealed.

The nasally-administered treatment has been found to prevent parasite transmission in mice.

Researchers behind the study, which is to be published in the Infection and Immunity journal, suggested that this may mean that the vaccine could have an impact on human malaria rates.

"To our knowledge, this is the first time that mucosal vaccination has been demonstrated to be efficacious for directly preventing parasite transmission from vaccinated animals to mosquitoes, and the results may provide important insight into rational design of non-parenteral vaccines for use against human malaria," the researchers said.

The study also noted that previous work had cited the ookinete-to-oocyst as being a key target for vaccines to target.

Last week, it was revealed that a gum which could help health workers detect malaria has been developed.

The product picks up traces of the disease through a person's saliva.

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