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About the Authors:
Kazutoyo Miura
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliation: Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America
Bingbing Deng
Affiliation: Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America
Gregory Tullo
Affiliation: Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America
Ababacar Diouf
Affiliation: Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America
Samuel E. Moretz
Affiliation: Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America
Emily Locke
Affiliation: PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America
Merribeth Morin
Affiliation: PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America
Michael P. Fay
Affiliation: Biostatistics Research Branch, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
Carole A. Long
Affiliation: Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America
Introduction
Continuous efforts to reduce malaria burden, such as application of insecticide treated nets, anti-malarial drugs and indoor insecticide spraying, have contributed to a decrease in mortality due to malaria, particularly due to Plasmodium falciparum, from an estimated 1.8 million deaths in 2005 to 1.2 million in 2010 [1]. However, to achieve the ultimate goal of malaria eradication, more effective tools will be required in view of the increasing resistance of malaria parasites and mosquito vectors to existing drugs and insecticides, respectively. Although vaccination is considered to be one of the most cost-effective control methods for a range of infectious diseases, to date only one malaria vaccine candidate against the pre-erythrocytic stages, the RTS, S vaccine, has shown encouraging clinical protection and a large phase 3 trial is underway in Africa [2]. There is increasing interest in a transmission-blocking vaccine (TBV) which is designed to induce antibodies in human hosts against sexual stage malaria antigens or...