Parasitology News and Research

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Parasitology is the study of organisms that gain nutrients and protection from their host, without any benefit to the host.

Researchers discover protein key to toxoplasmosis pathogen multiplication

Researchers have identified a protein that evolved concurrently with the emergence of cellular compartments crucial for the multiplication of the toxoplasmosis pathogen.

16 Feb 2024

Can ChatGPT revolutionize nutrition education? Study examines potential and challenges

The potential of ChatGPT application as a knowledge-enhancement tool in the nutrition domain.

25 Oct 2023

New artemisinin-resistant malaria parasite detected in Eritrea

Diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum malaria using rapid diagnostic tests and treatment with artemisinin derivatives, the main component of the malaria treatments recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), are under threat in the Horn of Africa.

29 Sep 2023

UC researchers study parasite that causes Chagas disease

Almost everything about insects called kissing bugs is revolting, from the insidious way they bite people's faces at night to drink their blood while they sleep to the way they spread disease through their poop.

23 Aug 2023

Current methods overestimate malaria parasite multiplication rates

Current methods can vastly overestimate the rates that malaria parasites are multiplying in an infected person's blood, which has important implications for determining how harmful they could be to a host, according to a new report.

17 Aug 2023

Study identifies a promising target for development of vaccine against spotted fever

A protein found in cells of the hard tick Amblyomma sculptum, the main vector of the bacterium that causes Brazilian spotted fever (also known as Rocky Mountain spotted fever), is essential to the tick's survival while feeding, making it a promising target for development of a vaccine, according to an article published in the journal Parasites & Vectors.

7 Jun 2023

Study identifies key genetic mechanism of drug resistance in the deadliest malaria parasites

An important genetic mechanism of drug resistance in one of the deadliest human malaria parasites has been identified in a new study published in Nature Microbiology.

11 May 2023

University Hospital Bonn coordinates eWHORM project to combat worm infections in sub-Saharan Africa

African and European partners join forces to enable the World Health Organisation's (WHO) "Road Map for Neglected Tropical Diseases" (NTDs) and reduce the burden of disease associated with worm infections.

11 Apr 2023

Study identifies the spinoparabrachial pathway for mechanical itch

Scientists identified a brain pathway that is associated with the mechanical sensation of itching.

7 Apr 2023

WHO recommends use of pyrethroid-chlorfenapyr insecticide-treated nets to prevent malaria

The World Health Organization has updated its policy regarding the type of insecticide used on bed nets to prevent malaria.

14 Mar 2023

New guidelines for designing synthetic molecules that block interaction between two proteins

Inside cells, proteins constantly interact with each other to carry out different functions. For some diseases in which these functions are altered, blocking the binding between two or more proteins emerges as a possible therapeutic approach.

30 Nov 2022

New malaria vaccine rollout planned in 2023

Researchers say they plan to roll out a new malaria vaccine next year after tests on children in West Africa found it to be up to 80 per cent effective.

13 Oct 2022

Booster vaccination maintains high efficacy against malaria in African children

Researchers from the University of Oxford and their partners have today reported new findings from their Phase 2b trial following the administration of a booster dose of the candidate malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-M™ - which previously demonstrated high-level efficacy of 77% over the following 12 months in young west African children in 2021.

9 Sep 2022

Prevalence and characterization of the Arcobacter genus in different foodstuffs

The MikroIker team of the UPV/EHU's Department of Immunology, Microbiology and Parasitology has conducted a study into the prevalence and characterization of bacteria of the Arcobacter genus using a large number of samples of different foods (seafood, vegetables, meat products and fresh cheese), including some that have never been analyzed in our environment previously.

5 Aug 2022

World Malaria Day 2022: How the knockdown of P. falciparum RAP01 and RAP21 proteins could lead to novel antimalarial therapeutics

As part of World Malaria Day 2022, we interview Karine Le Roch PH.D., about her latest research into how novel antimalarial therapeutic strategies could be on the horizon, after identifying two proteins that are critical to the survival of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.

25 Apr 2022

Study provides unique insight into long-term benefits of malaria control in children

Bed nets save lives in the long run, according to a 22-year study in Tanzania which, for the first time, indicates that children who sleep under them at an early age are more likely to survive into adulthood.

3 Feb 2022

A newly discovered species of worm kills tarantulas

Scientists have named a newly discovered species of worm that kills tarantulas after American actor, musician and producer Jeff Daniels, a distinction no other entertainer can claim.

20 Jan 2022

Researchers identify how a critical schistosomiasis drug works on the molecular level

Independent teams from Texas Biomedical Research Institute and the Medical College of Wisconsin have published two papers in Science Translational Medicine identifying how the only approved drug to treat schistosomiasis, a widespread parasitic worm infection, works on the molecular level.

6 Jan 2022

Researchers receive NIH grants to develop new treatments for neglected tropical diseases

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received two grants from the National Institutes of Health totaling more than $5.5 million to develop new treatments for two types of devastating parasitic infections common in sub-Saharan Africa and Central and South America: river blindness and intestinal worm infections.

22 Dec 2021

Washington University joins international effort to support data science research and training in Africa

Washington University in St. Louis is joining a major international effort to advance data science, catalyze innovation and spur health discoveries across Africa.

21 Nov 2021