Family of Matthew Lloyd make desperate TV appeal for help in finding nurse who went missing during malaria vaccine trial

A nurse will die in the next 24 hours unless he gets medical treatment for malaria, after going missing during a hospital trial in which he was voluntarily given the disease.

The family of Matthew Lloyd, 35, went on TV today to appeal for help in finding him, saying his unexplained disappearance was "totally out of character".

A spokesman for Hampshire police said: "We are extremely concerned.Six out of eight of those taking part in the trials are now showing signs of malaria and are being treated. If he has not received medical attention within the next 24 hours, it will be fatal."

Lloyd was urged "in the strongest possible terms" to visit a hospital or doctor's surgery; he could even get the necessary treatment from a pharmacist over the counter, without a prescription, the spokesman said.

Lloyd has been missing since last week when he phoned in to Southampton general hospital, where he is a nurse, to say he was sick, the police said.

He then failed to attend a hospital appointment in Oxford on Thursday afternoon where, along with seven other volunteers, he was due to have a vaccine injection as part of a clinical trial; six of the others already show signs of malaria and are being treated.

On Thursday evening police forced entry to Lloyd's flat in the Shirley area of Southampton, but found it empty. Over the weekend bank cards belonging to him were used at cashpoints in London, Milton Keynes and Birmingham.

Police also have CCTV footage at a cash machine in King's Cross, London, at 9.50am on Tuesday 5 October, said to be the last confirmed sighting of him.

Lloyd's parents, Doreen Holland, 64, and Michael Holland, 74, who live in Wellington, Somerset, and his sister Claire Holland, 31, told the ITV1 show Daybreak that they had no idea where he was.

His mother said: "We are completely lost. We have absolutely no idea. It's totally out of character for Matthew. Usually, once he starts a project of any sort he will follow it through. He's not one to just leave it halfway through. We have no idea whatsoever what has become of him or where he is. None of his friends seem to know."

Malaria kills up to three million people a year in tropical Africa, and is commonly transmitted by mosquitoes; there is so far no widely available vaccine giving a high level of protection for a sustained period. Symptoms of malaria include fever, shivering, arthralgia (joint pain), vomiting, and convulsions.