Malaria News and Research

Latest Malaria News and Research

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center establishes new vaccine and disease institute

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has established a new Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute to develop and implement prevention strategies for globally important infectious diseases, including HIV, malaria and cancer.

2 May 2007

Mechanisms of glucose homeostasis and early diabetes

Glucose homeostasis, the appropriate balancing of blood sugar levels, is impaired early in patients who become diabetic, causing life-threatening complications such as kidney failure and heart attacks.

1 May 2007

Drug for toenail fungus also blocks angiogenesis

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered to their surprise that a drug commonly used to treat toenail fungus can also block angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels commonly seen in cancers.

30 Apr 2007

Valid consent for genomic epidemiology in developing countries

Genetic research has the potential to improve global health by discovering what makes people susceptible or resistant to certain diseases, and what causes the diseases themselves, thereby guiding prevention efforts.

25 Apr 2007

Resistance to anti-HIV drugs in Uganda developed due to drug supply problems

Some HIV-infected patients in Uganda who self-paid for their antiretroviral medications experienced interruptions in drug supply due to either financial demands or supply logistical disruptions.

24 Apr 2007

Developing world can expect a 'pandemic of cancer' by 2020

The developing world is expected to account for more than half of all cancer cases in the world by 2020 say medical experts.

23 Apr 2007

Electronic mosquito repellents don't work

A Cochrane Systematic Review of the use of electronic mosquito repellents (EMRs) failed to find any evidence that they work.

19 Apr 2007

Electronic mosquito repellents just don't do it!

Scientists in Iran have found that electronic mosquito repellents which are marketed as being able to drive insects away with high-pitched sounds do not work.

19 Apr 2007

Global Fund must fund salaries of health workers to deliver HIV, TB and malaria treatments

In this week's PLoS Medicine, a team of international health experts issue a bold call to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria: fund the salaries of health workers or else risk a situation in which medicines for these three diseases are made available in poor countries but there are no health professionals to deliver them.

18 Apr 2007

Malaria-infected mice cured by one dose of new drug from Johns Hopkins

Johns Hopkins University researchers have cured malaria-infected mice with single shots of a new series of potent, long lasting synthetic drugs modeled on an ancient Chinese herbal folk remedy.

18 Apr 2007

Towards universal access: scaling up priority HIV/AIDS interventions in the health sector

Access to antiretroviral therapy for advanced HIV infection in low- and middle-income countries continued to grow throughout 2006, with more than 2 million people living with HIV/AIDS receiving treatment in December 2006, a 54% increase over the 1.3 million people on treatment one year earlier in these countries.

18 Apr 2007

Essential medicines for children

Following recommendations from the Expert Committee on Essential Medicines, the World Health Organization (WHO) will immediately begin work to create a medicines list specifically tailored to children's needs. A group of experts will meet in July 2007 to produce the first international list of medicines to tackle diseases with high mortality and morbidity rates in children.

16 Apr 2007

Malaria in pregnancy

Most malaria deaths worldwide are in children under 5 years old and pregnant women.

10 Apr 2007

India is poised to revolutionize biotechnology

India's health biotech firms are emerging as a major global player, with growing means and know-how to produce innovative as well as generic drugs and vaccines at costs small relative to those of giant Western firms, according to ground-breaking Canadian research.

10 Apr 2007

Medical Services International receives increased interest in Dengue fever and Malaria test kits

Medical Services International Inc. has announced that the interest by regulatory authorities and the company's distributors has increased substantially for its VScan Dengue Fever and Malaria test kits.

5 Apr 2007

Multivitamin supplements improve birth outcomes among children born to HIV-negative women

Each year an estimated 20 million children are born with low birth weight worldwide, more than 95% of them in developing countries.

5 Apr 2007

Insecticide-treated mosquito nets reduce number of miscarriages by one third in Africa

The results of new research will arm African doctors and researchers with the facts they need to persuade pregnant women to protect their unborn children by sleeping under insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs).

4 Apr 2007

Obstetric fistula, impact on women

Reuters on Friday examined obstetric fistula and its impact on women living with the condition (Ringler, Reuters, 3/30). Obstetric fistulas develop when a fetus becomes lodged during labor in the narrow birth canal of a girl or young woman, causing pressure that blocks the flow of blood to vital tissues and tearing holes in the bowel, urethra or both, causing incontinence.

3 Apr 2007

International community should focus on 'critical' health conditions, including HIV/AIDS epidemic, of Myanmar's population

The international community "needs an approach that focuses not on fostering democratic governance" in Myanmar "but on the critical health and education needs," including curbing the spread of HIV, among the country's "long suffering" population.

3 Apr 2007

Severe dengue infections may go unrecognized in international travelers

Severe cases of a common travelers' infection may not be recognized if doctors rely on the World Health Organization's (WHO) guidelines for identifying it, according to a new study published in the April 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online.

3 Apr 2007