Technology Leads One Step Closer to a Malaria Vaccine

摘要

U.S. military medical researchers are using radiation to close in on a vaccine to eliminate malaria, the top infectious disease threat to troops in affected areas, according to the Defense Department. The vaccine would replace preventive measures that are only partly effective against the mosquito-borne killer. The illness sidelines military operations and is responsible for a greater loss of manpower than enemy fire during 20th-century conflicts in tropical regions, says Capt. Judith Epstein, USN. "People have been working on malaria vaccines for many decades, but we feel that we're finally getting much closer to having an effective vaccine," says Capt. Epstein, clinical director of the Naval Medical Research Center's (NMRC's) Malaria Research Department. She leads a joint malaria research venture by the NMRC and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), co-located in Silver Spring, Maryland.