Researchers discovered a new malaria vaccine using immune system cells from children who are naturally resistant to the disease.
Recent test on rodents suggest the new type of vaccine could be effective, HealthDay reported.
Some children have a natural resistance to mosquito-borne infections because they hold protective antibodies. The antibodies prevent the malaria parasite from leaving the red blood cells.
The new vaccine was created using these antibodies, and proved to offer protection from the disease in rodents. When the mice were given a normal fatal strain of malaria, the vaccinated mice showed lower levels of the malaria parasite and survived for a longer period of time.
An expert who reviewed the trial suggested the treatment should be approached with caution as it may not be as effective in humans.
"But this does look very exciting," Doctor William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, and a spokesman for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, told HealthDay.
In 2012 about 207 million people were infected with malaria across the globe; about 630,000 of these patients are believed to have passed away as a result of the parasitic infection.
"This is the biggest, single-agent killer of children worldwide," Doctor Jonathan Kurtis, director of the Center for International Health Research at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, told HealthDay.
The danger of malaria is rising because the parasite has started to become resistant to modern treatments and preventative measures.
There are currently between 50 and 100 new malaria vaccines in the process of development, but most target only a few malaria parasite antigens.
Antigens are proteins located on a foreign invader that prompts the immune system to produce protective antibodies.
"Everyone would like their vaccine to be the answer," Schaffner said. "But 'perfect protection' (against malaria) has proven so difficult, we have a fallback: A vaccine that would greatly reduce hospitalizations and deaths."
