Dr Andrew Blaborough

Overview

If we are to contemplate control or elimination of malaria we must attack Plasmodium directly on two fronts; we must reduce the impact of disease upon the infected individual, and at the population level we must reduce the number of new infections. To reduce new infections, potentially the most effective point to attack the parasite is during its transmission through the mosquito vector, a process that in the field, commonly results in infection of less than 5 parasites per mosquito. It is now unquestionable that transmission of Plasmodium to the mosquito can be reduced by transmission-blocking drugs (e.g. mefloquine, primaquine, ACTs and atovaquone); and by transmission-blocking vaccines and antibodies, targeting parasite stages that establish infection within the mosquito (e.g. gametocytes, gametes, zygotes and ookinetes).