Researchers are studying the use of mobile phones to document the spread of malaria. The study is part of an effort to stop or control the disease. The World Health Organization says malaria mortality rates have fallen by twenty-five percent since two thousand. Yet the disease killed an estimated six hundred fifty-five thousand people in twenty-ten. Scientists say malaria-carrying mosquitoes … [Read more...]
How Mosquito Immune System Attacks Specific Infections, Including Malaria Parasite
Researchers have determined a new mechanism by which the mosquitoes’ immune system can respond with specificity to infections with various pathogens, including the parasite that causes malaria in humans, using one single gene. Unlike humans and other animals, insects do not make antibodies to target specific infections. According to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public … [Read more...]
Mini Primaquine? Controversy and Uncertainty Surround WHO Guidelines for the Antimalarial Primaquine
By Lorenz von Seidlein – This year has seen a considerable increase in interest in primaquine, an antimalarial that has been around for more than 60 years. The answer to why the spotlight has recently intensified on this old drug lies in three key questions in malaria research and control: How do we contain the spread of artemisinin resistance; how do we minimise the transmission of … [Read more...]
ECOWAS Program to Eradicate Malaria
QUESTION Why can I find no mention on your website of the ECOWAS program to eradicate malaria in their countries? ANSWER Thanks for bringing up ECOWAS. Since 2011, ECOWAS leaders have signaled a commitment to eradicating malaria in their region by 2015, and pilot programs are already underway in several countries, including Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Ghana. The program has centered on the use … [Read more...]
Reduction in Child Mortality in Niger
Niger has achieved great reductions in child mortality and gains in coverage for interventions in child survival than neighbouring countries in west Africa. About 59,000 lives were saved in children younger than 5 years in 2009, attributable to the introduction of insecticide-treated bednets (25%); improvements in nutritional status (19%); vitamin A supplementation (9%); treatment of … [Read more...]
Chemists Develop New Synthesis for Antimalarial Drug, Artemisinin
Chemists at Indiana University have developed a new synthesis for the world's most useful antimalarial drug, artemisinin, giving hope that fully synthetic artemisinin might help reduce the cost of the live-saving drug in the future. Effective deployment of ACT, or artemisinin-based combination therapy, has been slow due to high production costs of artemisinin. The World Health Organization has … [Read more...]
Anti Malaria Medication for Dominican Republic
QUESTION I am from the UK and am planning to go to the Dominican Republic (Punta Cana) in October. I have been prescribed Malarone from the nurse at my local GP's, although my mothers nurse informed her that this drug is not suitable for this area? I would appreciate any help, many thanks. ANSWER Malarone is suitable for travel to the Dominican Republic. However, the type of malaria found … [Read more...]
Gates Foundation Offers USD$100K Grants for Innovative Global Health and Development Projects
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced today that it is accepting applications for Round 10 of its Grand Challenges Explorations initiative, a USD$100 million grant initiative encouraging innovation in global health and development research. Anyone with a transformative idea is invited to submit an easy, online, two page application. Grand Challenges Explorations is pleased to have … [Read more...]
Malaria Nearly Eliminated in Sri Lanka Despite Decades of Conflict
UCSF, Sri Lankan Researchers Credit Adaptability of Malaria Control Program Despite nearly three decades of conflict, Sri Lanka has succeeded in reducing malaria cases by 99.9% since 1999 and is on track to eliminate the disease entirely by 2014. According to a paper published today in the online, open-access journal PLOS ONE, researchers from Sri Lanka’s Anti-Malaria Campaign and the UCSF … [Read more...]
Newly Sequenced Malaria Genomes Show Genetic Variability
Genetic variability revealed in malaria genomes newly sequenced by two multi-national research teams points to new challenges in efforts to eradicate the parasite, but also offers a clearer and more detailed picture of its genetic composition, providing an initial roadmap in the development of pharmaceuticals and vaccines to combat malaria. The research appears in two studies published in the … [Read more...]