The collaborative project led by Professor Alyssa Barry narrowed down malaria proteins and disease-fighting antibodies than can help develop a vaccine against the most severe forms of it.

"It's similar to the flu vaccine, you have to keep adjusting and updating it as the virus strains evolve from year to year," Professor Barry said.

"Malaria is even more diverse than flu, but in malaria-endemic areas children repeatedly infected develop immunity by the time they're two years old."

Based on the knowledge that antimalarial immunity is possible, the research collected proteins from different strains of malaria from children in Papua New Guinea who had been affected by it, and measured antibodies to those proteins.

They followed the children for 16 months to determine which of them were susceptible to the more severe forms of malaria and who were protected and only experiencing milder forms of it.

"It's been a long road, and has involved a large team, but it's a major step forward that provides hope that creating a vaccine might be possible," Professor Barry said.

"It's the first time anyone has seen this."

The latest figures from the World Health Organisation showed there were 219 million cases of malaria worldwide, causing 435,000 deaths.

Children aged under five are the most vulnerable group affected by malaria. In 2017, they accounted for 61 per cent of all malaria deaths worldwide, the World Health Organisation reported.

Australian Associated Press