Plasmodium falciparum News and Research

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Why is dengue spreading while malaria has declined?

Rising temperatures are reshaping malaria and dengue dynamics, revealing contrasting trends driven by urbanization, disease control, and socioeconomic factors.

8 Oct 2026

Lysine methylation found to control movement in single-celled parasites

LMU researchers identify a molecular mechanism that enables single-celled parasites to switch on the machinery they need to move and invade host cells.

28 Aug 2026

Resistant malaria parasites become increasingly prevalent across Ethiopia

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), Brown University, the University of Notre Dame, and Ethiopia's Ministry of Health have found that malaria parasites carrying genetic markers associated with resistance to frontline antimalarial medicines and commonly used diagnostic tests are becoming increasingly prevalent across Ethiopia.

24 Aug 2026

New genetic mutations linked to malaria drug resistance discovered

Researchers searching for genetic clues to the growing problem of malaria drug resistance identified new mutations associated with the parasite's decreased susceptibility to current treatment.

17 Aug 2026

New inhibitor design provides a blueprint for effective malaria treatments

Researchers from the Universities of Bath and Leeds (UK) have made a significant advance in the fight against malaria by uncovering a promising new potential target for drug discovery.

6 May 2026

New genetic tool tracks how bacteria spread between people

The research, published on April 24th, 2026, in Nature Microbiology, describes how the new tool, called TRAnsmision Clustering of Strains (TRACS), uses genomics to distinguish between closely related bacterial strains.

4 May 2026

New research reveals how parasites break out of host cells

Parasites are a major global health problem, underlying many human diseases worldwide. For example, Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite responsible for malaria, plays a well-established; however, its complex life cycle is not yet fully understood.

15 Apr 2026

Newly discovered stage controls malaria parasite division

Researchers studying the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum have discovered a previously unknown stage in its life cycle that appears to be crucial for reproduction.

4 Feb 2026

Blood group A linked to a higher risk of primary biliary cholangitis

Findings indicate blood group A elevates the risk of primary biliary cholangitis, suggesting ABO group analysis could aid in autoimmune liver disease diagnosis.

19 Nov 2025

Common malaria test gives too many inaccurate false-negative results

An international study published in the Malaria Journal claims that a widely used test for detecting malaria is delivering too many inaccurate false-negative results and is “not fit for purpose”.

17 Nov 2025

Researchers find plasma donors with broad malaria protection

Malaria, caused by Plasmodium falciparum, remains a major global health threat, claiming 600,000 lives annually, mostly young children in sub-Saharan Africa. Immunity to severe malaria develops after repeated infections and is mediated by antibodies blocking the parasite's highly diversified PfEMP1 adhesion proteins from binding to the human endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR) on blood vessel walls.

19 Aug 2025

Australian researchers uncover new target for next-generation malaria vaccines

Australian researchers have visualized a key protein complex in malaria parasites for the first time, uncovering a new target for next-generation vaccines that could help stop the disease from spreading.

6 Aug 2025

Gene-edited mosquitoes slash malaria spread 93% using self-propagating shield

Scientists engineered a naturally occurring genetic variant (Q224) in Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes, making them highly resistant to malaria parasites without affecting fitness. A novel gene-drive system rapidly spread this protective trait through lab mosquito populations, offering a potential breakthrough for malaria control.

24 Jul 2025

Protein signatures may help predict malaria severity and guide treatment

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have identified over 250 proteins that are strongly affected by malaria, which could help predict the severity of the disease and thus enable faster treatment for the most critical patients.

14 Jul 2025

Malaria eradication in Suriname offers hope for Amazon neighbors

The declaration of Suriname as the first malaria-free Amazonian country by the World Health Organization should spur other countries in the region affected by illegal mining and high migration, say disease specialists.

9 Jul 2025

Targeting RAP proteins for next-generation malaria treatments

A University of California, Riverside-led team has made an advance in the basic understanding of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite responsible for the deadliest form of human malaria, that could make novel, highly targeted anti-malarial therapies possible.

1 Jul 2025

WHO certifies Suriname as malaria free after decades of efforts

Today, Suriname became the first country in the Amazon region to receive malaria-free certification from the World Health Organization (WHO). This historic milestone follows nearly 70 years of commitment by the government and people of Suriname to eliminate the disease across its vast rainforests and diverse communities.

30 Jun 2025

Malaria protein plays dual role in immune evasion and activation

Researchers from The University of Osaka find that a protein expressed on malaria-infected red blood cells both hides it from the immune system and activates cells to destroy it, making it a promising target for vaccine development.

24 Jun 2025

PfSPZ-LARC2 malaria vaccine advances to new age groups after successful safety review

Physician-scientists at Groupe de Recherche Action en Santé (GRAS) in Burkina Faso have successfully completed initial safety evaluations in 30 adult Burkinabés as the first phase of a clinical trial of Sanaria PfSPZ-LARC2 Vaccine, which is designed to prevent infection with Plasmodium falciparum malaria.

3 Jun 2025

US funding freeze halts malaria prevention and genomic research

The “catastrophic” freeze on US funding for malaria has halted prevention programmes across Africa and also threatens to stall advances in genomic research, says Jane Carlton, director of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute.

1 Jun 2025