Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite called Plasmodium - when infected mosquitoes bite the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells. Even though this potentially fatal disease can be prevented and cured, each year 350-500 million cases of malaria still occur worldwide, and over one million people die, most of them young children in Africa south of the Sahara, where one in every five (20%) childhood deaths is due to the effects of the disease.

Malaria is so common in Africa because a lack of resources and political instability have prevented the building of solid malaria control programs. Experts say an African child has on average between 1.6 and 5.4 episodes of malaria fever each year and according to the World Health Organization (WHO) as many as half of the world's population are at risk of malaria mainly in the world's poorest and most vulnerable countries and every 30 seconds a child dies from malaria.

What is Malaria?

Malaria is an infectious disease of tropical countries. It is spread by mosquitoes. It is manifested by fever along with chills and rigors. Unless it is diagnosed and treated promptly, it can be fatal. A single mosquito bite may be enough to cause the infection.

Malaria Causes

Malaria Mechanism

Malaria Diagnosis

Malaria Prevention

Malaria Treatment

Malaria Epidemiology

Malaria History

Malaria Society And Culture

Malaria Symptoms

Malaria: A Force Shaping Blood Cell Evolution?

Latest Malaria News and Research

New approach could illuminate a critical stage in the life cycle of P. vivax malaria parasite

A new approach could illuminate a critical stage in the life cycle of one of the most common malaria parasites.

3 Jul 2020

WHO endorses Truenat molecular diagnostic tests for TB

The Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, Molbio Diagnostics and the Indian Council of Medical Research announced today that the World Health Organization has now endorsed three of their rapid molecular Truenat assays for initial diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) and subsequent detection of rifampicin resistance in adults and children with signs and symptoms of pulmonary TB.

3 Jul 2020

Controlled human infection models as a strategy to accelerate SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development

Infecting some volunteers with COVID-19 may provide valuable insights for future rounds of vaccine testing, but would require very strict controls, argues a group of infectious disease experts in the New England Journal of Medicine.

2 Jul 2020

Researchers identify mosquito species that could transmit malaria

During collections for a study to map the distribution of mosquito species in Finland, Anopheles daciae, a species previously not known to occur in Finland was found from several locations in the south of the country.

2 Jul 2020

Ghana's efforts to eliminate malaria at risk as economy improves

Ghana's efforts to eliminate malaria could be in jeopardy as its improved economy results in reduced external funding for fighting malaria, a study suggests.

30 Jun 2020

Research uncovers malaria's secret to surviving in the blood

New research from the Francis Crick Institute has found how the malaria parasite protects itself from toxic compounds in red blood cells.

30 Jun 2020

Study finds more effective treatment for children with sickle cell anemia

A team of international researchers has learned that dose escalation of hydroxyurea treatment for children in Uganda with sickle cell anemia is more effective and has similar side effects than a lower fixed dose of the same drug.

25 Jun 2020

Tomocube holotomography microscopy reveals novel cholesterol membrane transport system in erythrocytes infected with fatal malaria parasite

The first study to elucidate the dynamics of membrane cholesterol transport in erythrocytes has been successfully concluded using holotomography microscopy.

From Tomocube Inc. 24 Jun 2020

Favipiravir has weak effect on SARS-CoV-2 and Hydroxychloroquine none at all in hamster model

A new study from Belgian researchers shows that antiviral drug Favipiravir could have a weak effect against the dreaded novel coronavirus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as seen in hamster models. However, the study also finds there is no efficacy of the much-touted drug Hydroxychloroquine.

22 Jun 2020

Researchers caution use of chloroquine therapy for patients at higher risk of heart rhythm abnormalities

A patient who met many of the published safety guidelines for chloroquine therapy against COVID-19 was observed to have a very abnormal ECG pattern after treatment began, leading to multiple episodes of torsade de pointes (TdP), a life-threatening arrhythmia in which the lower chambers of the heart beat out of sync with the upper chambers.

18 Jun 2020

Impact Biomedical's COVID-19 research published in peer-reviewed scientific journal

SGX-listed Singapore eDevelopment Limited's wholly owned subsidiary Impact Biomedical Inc. announced today that their COVID-19 research with Global Research and Discovery Group Sciences, conducted in collaboration with Harvard Medical School and Vilotos Pharmaceutical, Inc., was published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Molecules on June 11, 2020.

18 Jun 2020

New discovery could open door to next generation malaria vaccine

In an unprecedented first, scientists at Seattle Children's Research Institute have developed a genetically attenuated parasite (GAP) that arrests late in the liver stage of human malaria.

16 Jun 2020

Researchers analyze immune properties of ancient human DNA

Could remnants of DNA from a now-extinct human subspecies known as the Denisovans help boost the immune functions of modern humans?

16 Jun 2020

Hydroxychloroquine ineffective in animal SARS-CoV-2 infection

A new study by scientists from the U.S and U.K. and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 reports that there is no evidence of efficacy for the drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) against infection with SARS-CoV-2 in hamsters or macaque models. This finding does not support the current widespread prophylactic and therapeutic use of HCQ in COVID-19.

14 Jun 2020

Study: Parasite infection closely linked to the make-up of gastrointestinal microbiome

Parasite infections are a constant presence for many people who live in tropical regions, particularly in less industrialized areas.

14 Jun 2020

Public health officials face wave of threats, pressure amid coronavirus response

Emily Brown was stretched thin. As the director of the Rio Grande County Public Health Department in rural Colorado, she was working 12- and 14-hour days, struggling to respond to the pandemic with only five full-time employees for more than 11,000 residents. Case counts were rising.

12 Jun 2020

Study initiates hydroxychloroquine clinical trial to prevent COVID-19 in healthy people

Rush University Medical Center has opened enrollment for a new clinical trial investigating whether the drug hydroxychloroquine is better than a placebo in preventing COVID-19 infection in healthy people working in health care settings.

12 Jun 2020

UCD spin-out awarded €4.5 million funding to help combat coronavirus pandemic

SiriusXT (https://siriusxt.com/), a University College Dublin (UCD) spin-out company, has been awarded just over €4.5 million in blended (grant and equity) funding from the European Innovation Council Accelerator Pilot programme which is part of Horizon 2020, the EU's research and innovation programme.

11 Jun 2020

A lead compound can significantly reduce or eliminate toxoplasmosis and malaria

Toxoplasma gondii infection is one of the most frequent parasitic infections of humans. This parasite is present in the brain of an estimated two billion people--about 40 percent of all humans on earth. It is endemic throughout the world, causing water and food-borne epidemics that result in toxoplasmosis.

10 Jun 2020

Baboon could prove to be a relevant model to test Alzheimer's disease interventions

Scientists at Texas Biomedical Research Institute's Southwest National Primate Research Center recently published findings indicating the baboon could prove to be a relevant model to test therapeutics and interventions for neurodegenerative diseases, such as early stage Alzheimer's and related dementias.

10 Jun 2020