On World Malaria Day, the World Health Organization has launched an emergency program in Phnom Penh to tackle a worrying regional trend - a strain of malaria that is proving resistant to the most important anti-malarial drug. Six years ago, health researchers were worried after a strain of malaria in western Cambodia began to show resistance to the world’s key malaria treatment - … [Read more...]
Africa Faces $7 Billion Funding Gap to Fight Malaria
April 26, 2013 By Leave a Comment
African countries face a $7-billion funding gap to control and eliminate malaria. To discuss this issue among others, African ministers of health came together at the African Union headquarters to commemorate World Malaria Day. Every year 660,000 people die from malaria, and 90 percent of those deaths are in Africa. Eliminating malaria by 2015 is one of the United Nations' Millennium … [Read more...]
Chorangiosis Implicated in Pregnant Women Infected with Malaria
April 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment
A passing remark launched the project that will be described at the Experimental Biology 2013 conference in Boston on Monday. A poster, presented by undergraduate Ashley McMichael from Albany State University, has preliminary data that hint that there is an association between a rare pregnancy condition and malaria. The remark that launched the project was made by a collaborator of Julie Moore, … [Read more...]
Cancer Drugs May Help in Preventing Malaria
April 3, 2013 By Leave a Comment
In the fight against malaria, cancer drugs are far from being considered a useful tool. But new research reveals that liver cells, which are first infected by Plasmodium parasites after their transmission by mosquito bite, actually behave in similar ways to cancer cells. The work also shows that with the help of cancer drugs, the liver can become a hostile environment for the malaria parasite. … [Read more...]
Mobile Technology Used to Fight Malaria Drug Counterfeiting
January 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment
African Social Enterprise mPedigree Networks has been running a program in Nigeria and Ghana that allows consumers to verify the authenticity of anti-malaria drugs by using mobile phone SMS technology. With the new service, patients taking a range of medication and send a free text message to get an instant response as to whether the medications are genuine. Counterfeit medicines often contain … [Read more...]
Cholesterol Drug Lovastatin Might Help Treat Serious Malaria Cases
December 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Each year, an estimated 500,000 children in sub-Saharan Africa develop the most serious form of malaria, so-called cerebral malaria. Experts say many of those who do not die from this parasitic infection go on, years later, to develop memory problems and learning difficulties. Now, researchers say, a study on mice may indicate that these malaria-induced cognitive impairments could be averted … [Read more...]
Malaria Programs at Risk Due to Funding Cuts
December 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Funding for programs to control malaria and provide universal treatment for the mosquito-borne disease is falling short of international goals, according to the World Health Organization. In its annual report, the WHO also warns that the latest drugs could soon become ineffective against some deadly malarial parasites. Ami Diabate, has brought her three children to a rural clinic to get the … [Read more...]
Whole-plant Artemisia May Curtail Malaria Drug Resistance
December 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Malaria affects millions of people in the developing world each year, and fighting the disease can be difficult, because the mosquito-borne parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which causes the deadliest form of malaria, has developed resistance to every anti-malaria drug. Molecular parasitologist Stephen Rich at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is leading a research team that has found a … [Read more...]
WHO Report – Funding and Support for Anti-Malaria Programs Slows
December 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment
During the past decade, a concerted effort by endemic countries, donors and global malaria partners led to strengthened malaria control around the world. The scale-up of malaria prevention and control interventions had the greatest impact in countries with high malaria transmission; 58% of the 1.1 million lives saved during this period were in the ten highest burden countries. However, after a … [Read more...]
New Diagnostic Test for Malaria
November 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment
A new diagnostic test could revolutionize the treatment of malaria, one of the world’s most persistent and deadly diseases, making it possible to diagnose the illness from a single drop of blood or saliva. The test, developed by researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark, detects very low levels of an enzyme produced by the Plasmodium parasite, the organism that causes malaria. This could … [Read more...]
