A type of mosquito that transmits malaria has been detected in Ethiopia for the first time, and the discovery has implications for putting more people at risk for malaria in new regions, according to a study led by a Baylor ...
Jan 16, 2019
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People may soon have a new weapon in the battle against mosquitoes, and it comes from an unusual source: bacteria.
Jan 18, 2019
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The results of clinical trials conducted in Ethiopia by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), in partnership with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the University of Gondar, and Addis Ababa University, open ...
Jan 17, 2019
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A team at LSTM with their collaborators in Malawi and Denmark have provided, for the first time, evidence which links the ability of red blood cells infected with the malaria parasite to bind to the cells lining the blood ...
Jan 11, 2019
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For many years, a team of researchers at the University of Copenhagen have been developing a vaccine that can protect against pregnancy malaria, from which 220,000 people die every year.
Jan 11, 2019
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Some people suffer from repeated attacks of malaria. These can occur weeks to months or longer after contracting the disease. The phenomenon is only too familiar to those who were bitten by mosquitoes carrying the type of ...
Jan 14, 2019
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Researchers from LSTM have looked at the efficacy of using a novel artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), pyronaridine-artesunate, to treat malaria in areas where resistance to other ACTs is becoming a problem. The ...
Jan 08, 2019
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A measles vaccine protects against measles infection. By introducing a bit of weakened virus, the immune system learns how to deal with it, so when a real measles virus comes along, it can eliminate it. But does the immune ...
Jan 11, 2019
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Dangerous infectious diseases such as AIDS/HIV, Zika, Ebola and influenza frequently make headlines, and it seems as if there is no end of media attention and research interest focused on them. Conversely, diseases like leishmaniasis, ...
Scientists love analogies. We use them continually to communicate our scientific approaches and discoveries.
Jan 07, 2019
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Insecticide-infused mosquito netting is in widespread use around the world to limit the spread of mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria. Researchers from North Carolina State University and the U.S. Centers for Disease ...
Jan 02, 2019
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Dogs could be trained to sniff out malaria in people according to new research aimed at preventing the spread of the deadly disease.
Oct 29, 2018
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In the ongoing hunt for more effective weapons against malaria, international researchers said Thursday they are exploring a pathway that has until now been little studied—killing parasites in the liver, before the illness ...
Dec 08, 2018
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What is the deadliest animal on earth? It's a question that brings to mind fearsome lions, tigers, sharks and crocodiles. But the answer is an animal that is no more than 1 centimeter long.
Dec 21, 2018
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When households in sub-Saharan Africa don't have an adequate number of insecticide-treated bed nets, pregnant women and children under five are the most likely family members to sleep under the ones they have, leaving men ...
Dec 11, 2018
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Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases progressing to coma or death. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
Five species of Plasmodium can infect and be transmitted by humans. Severe disease is largely caused by Plasmodium falciparum while the disease caused by Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale, and Plasmodium malariae is generally a milder disease that is rarely fatal. Plasmodium knowlesi is a zoonosis that causes malaria in macaques but can also infect humans.
Malaria transmission can be reduced by preventing mosquito bites by distribution of mosquito nets and insect repellents, or by mosquito-control measures such as spraying insecticides and draining standing water (where mosquitoes breed). Despite a clear need, no vaccine offering a high level of protection currently exists. Efforts to develop one are ongoing. A number of medications are also available to prevent malaria in travelers to malaria-endemic countries (prophylaxis).
A variety of antimalarial medications are available. Severe malaria is treated with intravenous or intramuscular quinine or, since the mid-2000s, the artemisinin derivative artesunate, which is superior to quinine in both children and adults. Resistance has developed to several antimalarial drugs, most notably chloroquine.
There were an estimated 225 million cases of malaria worldwide in 2009. An estimated 655,000 people died from malaria in 2010, a 5% decrease from the 781,000 who died in 2009 according to the World Health Organization's 2011 World Malaria Report, accounting for 2.23% of deaths worldwide. Ninety percent of malaria-related deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, with ~60% of deaths being young children under the age of five. Plasmodium falciparum, the most severe form of malaria, is responsible for the vast majority of deaths associated with the disease. Malaria is commonly associated with poverty, and can indeed be a cause of poverty and a major hindrance to economic development.
This text uses material from Wikipedia licensed under CC BY-SA
