A team of researchers from Institut Pasteur de Bangui, the University of Montpellier and Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville has found that contrary to conventional thought, malaria-carrying mosquito ...
The world's first malaria vaccine will soon be available across sub-Saharan Africa, according to PATH, partners of the vaccine developers, as positive results from the pioneering jab pile up.
May 06, 2022
0
10
Researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) have discovered why malaria parasites are vulnerable to some drug therapies but resistant to others, offering scientists another piece of the puzzle in the global ...
May 06, 2022
0
79
WEHI researchers have made a crucial discovery about how asymptomatic malaria infections impact the body, informing potential strategies to control transmission and improve treatment outcomes.
May 04, 2022
1
38
Malaria is mainly a travel-associated infection in Belgium, where between 2016 and 2019, 327 to 420 cases were reported annually by the National Reference Laboratory. Local transmission is only sporadically reported.
Apr 25, 2022
0
19
Hundreds of thousands of people, mostly children living in Africa, succumb every year to malaria, an age-old mosquito-borne scourge that worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Apr 23, 2022
1
34
By analyzing samples from patients who have been treated for malaria in Sweden, researchers at Karolinska Institutet can now describe how the immune system acts to protect the body after a malaria infection. The results, ...
Apr 19, 2022
0
81
After the success of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19, scientists are cautiously optimistic that the same technology can be used to tackle other widespread diseases such as malaria. The technology is promising, say vaccine ...
Apr 08, 2022
0
7
A novel class of bed net that kills mosquitoes resistant to traditional insecticides by making them unable to move or fly, significantly reduces malaria infection in children, according to new research published in The Lancet.
Mar 25, 2022
0
88
Scientists at the University of Glasgow and partner institutes have developed an inexpensive, fast and simple way to identify the aging mosquitos which transmit the deadly malaria parasite.
Mar 21, 2022
0
26
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
