FAMILY of a malaria-infected nurse missing for ten days say they believe the experimental vaccine could have left him too confused to seek life-saving treatment.

Fears are growing for the safety of Matthew Lloyd, who vanished after being injected with the deadliest strain of malaria in an attempt to find a cure for the disease.

Doctors have warned that Matthew, 37, of Southampton, will die unless he receives vital medication.

His distraught parents, Michael and Doreen Holland, of Wellington, Somerset, say they suspect the vaccine could have affected their son’s mental state.

Mrs Holland, 64, said: “I have an instinct he is confused and ill. The malaria injection must have triggered something the doctors did not know about. I can’t believe he is functioning fully. If he was, he would have been in touch.”

In a heartfelt message to anyone who sees Matthew acting unusually she pleaded: “He is not dangerous.

Please approach him and get him help.”

Matthew’s sister Claire, 31, added: “The malaria must have seriously affected his system or his senses.

There could be no other reason for him not telling us what he’s doing.”

Matthew, of Shirley Road, Shirley, and seven other volunteers were infected with the falciparum strain of malaria on October 1 in trials run by Oxford University.

The trials are understood to be based at the university’s Jenner Institute, which specialises in vaccine research. The University of Southampton and two centres in London are also reported to be involved in the study.

Matthew, a nurse at Southampton General Hospital, specialises in contagious diseases.

On October 7, the day he was due to receive anti-malaria medication in Oxford, he called in sick to colleagues and has not been seen since.

A nationwide hunt has been launched for Matthew, with ports, hospitals and airports all put on alert. Police believe he may have gone abroad.

He is thought to have had his passport with him when a CCTV camera captured him outside a bank in King’s Cross, London, on October 5.

Detectives studying his mobile phone records say he has also travelled to Birmingham and Milton Keynes.