The purpose of this study is to test the safety and dosages of a malaria vaccine in 100 children, 1-6 years old, in Bandiagara, Mali. The study is testing the safety of the vaccine when it is given to people who are regularly exposed to malaria and it will provide information regarding optimal vaccine dosage. This study will compare 3 injections of different vaccine doses to a rabies vaccine that is already approved. During the study, the child's health will be checked in the clinic and during home visits. Children may participate for about 14 months, and blood will be taken from each child throughout the study. If the child becomes sick from malaria, he/she will be treated. Information from this study may be used to develop a malaria vaccine that will help control the disease.

This study is a randomized, controlled, dose-escalation, phase I trial of the FMP2.1/AS02A malaria vaccine, using rabies vaccine as a control. This study is linked to DMID protocol 07-0003. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the safety and reactogenicity of FMP2.1/AS02A in children naturally exposed to P. falciparum malaria infection. The secondary objective is to measure the magnitude and duration of antibody response to FMP2.1 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). One hundred healthy children aged 1-6 years in Bandiagara, Mali, will be randomized to 1 of 3 possible groups. Twenty subjects will be enrolled in cohort 1 and 40 subjects each in cohorts 2 and 3. Children within each cohort will be randomized in a 3:1 ratio to receive 10, 25 or 50 micrograms of FMP2.1 (in cohorts 1, 2 and 3, respectively) adjuvanted with a proportionate volume of the AS02A, or rabies vaccine. Thus a total of 75 children will receive the malaria vaccine and 25 the rabies vaccine. Immunizations will be given on days 0, 30 and 60 in a staggered fashion, with the first administrations of the 25 and 50 microgram dose levels of FMP2.1 following the first administration of the 10 and 25 microgram dose levels, respectively, by 2-3 weeks. Solicited adverse events will be recorded on the days of immunization and days 1, 2, 3 and 7 after each immunization, and unsolicited adverse events will be recorded for 30 days after each immunization. Children will be followed for 1 year after the last immunization. Sera will be collected for anti-FMP2.1 antibody titers on the days of immunization and 14 days after each immunization as well as 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after the first immunization. Each child will participate in the study for up to 414 days, which includes the screening period. The primary outcome measures include: occurrence of solicited symptoms after each vaccination during a 7-day surveillance period (day of vaccination and days 1, 2, 3 and 7 after vaccination), occurrence of unsolicited symptoms after each vaccination during a 30-day surveillance period (day of vaccination and 30 subsequent days); and occurrence of serious adverse events throughout the study period. The secondary outcome measure is titers and activity of anti-FMP2.1 antibody at each time point where serology samples are analyzed, measured by ELISA.