Malaria vaccines: Current developments and immunological insights

Malaria is a parasitic disease of public health concern affecting nearly 263 million people globally. Majorly, poor and developing countries are prone to malaria. Children under 5 years are most susceptible to malaria morbidity and mortality. The emergence of drug-resistant parasites is posing a threat to the malaria control and elimination goals. There is a need of the hour to develop new anti-malarials along with novel malaria vaccines. The genetic complexity of the parasite and multiple life stages make it challenging to develop malaria vaccines. So far, the WHO has approved only two malaria vaccines. This review discusses the prospects of these two malaria vaccines and the future vaccine candidates targeting different life stages of Plasmodium. It also highlights the recent development in identifying the host's immune responses against malaria, novel vaccine candidates, and the ideal vaccine requirement.