Malaria diagnosis, therapy, vaccines, and vector control

Malaria remains a massive public health problem in the world affecting more than 200 million people and causing 600,000 deaths every year, mostly in children under 5 years of age. Malaria control strategies include treatment of diagnosis-confirmed patients with artemisinin-based combination therapy, protection of individuals with insecticide-treated bed nets, and indoor residual spraying to fight against the vector. However, the emergence of artemisinin resistance in P. falciparum in Southeast Asia and the development of insecticide resistance in mosquitoes are putting these control tools at risk. An effective vaccine could be the tool to reach the eradication goal. However, only the RTS,S/AS01 vaccine is likely to be launched in 2015, despite its effectiveness is modest.