Qld researchers get malaria vaccine boost

An extra $2.8 million is being injected into a Queensland researchers' efforts to develop a vaccine to eradicate one of the world's most serious infectious diseases.

Malaria affects millions of people and results in some 700,000 deaths each year, but it's hoped the research will lead to a life-saving vaccine that can be rolled out.

James Cook University researchers, who will work with institutions in Melbourne and the USA, received the grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which previously tipped in $1.3 million into the project.