Malaria News and Research

Latest Malaria News and Research

St George's, University of London focuses entire research on tackling coronavirus

St George's, University of London, the UK's specialist health university, is focusing all its ongoing research on tackling coronavirus.

3 Apr 2020

Who should be taking antimalarial drugs as treatment against COVID-19?

Researchers provide a guideline regarding who should be actually taking antimalarial drugs as prophylaxis to prevent getting COVID-19. They say health professionals who are being exposed to COVID-19 positive patients and those who test positive but are asymptomatic should be taking drugs such as Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine. They explain that these populations remain most in need, and because of limited supply, these individuals need to be prioritized.

2 Apr 2020

Drugs considered for COVID-19 can increase risk for dangerous arrhythmias

As some consider treating coronavirus patients with a combination of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin, cardiologists are advising caution because both medications can increase the risk for dangerous abnormal heart rhythms.

2 Apr 2020

Penn State engineer developing point-of-care testing device to diagnose COVID-19

A point-of-care testing device that may help diagnose the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is under development by Weihua Guan, assistant professor of electrical engineering in Penn State's College of Engineering.

2 Apr 2020

FDA to trial malaria drugs Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week provided the necessary authorization for clinical trials of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of the novel coronavirus. These two drugs have been claimed by President Donald Trump to be a potential treatment for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, which causes COVID-19 disease. To date, there has been no conclusive proof regarding the safety and efficacy of these drugs in COVID-19 cases, say officials.

31 Mar 2020

Fast-acting anti-malarial compound shows promise in first clinical trial

A fast-acting anti-malarial compound discovered at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital was well tolerated and showed promising anti-malarial effects in the first study in humans.

27 Mar 2020

New research initiative to investigate multi-species response to novel coronavirus

Scientists at Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed) today announced the launch of a comprehensive research initiative to investigate multiple animal species and their response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

26 Mar 2020

Critical guidance to identify COVID-19 patients at risk of drug-induced sudden cardiac death

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, continues to spread, leading to more than 20,000 deaths worldwide in less than four months. Efforts are progressing to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, but it's still likely 12 to 18 months away.

25 Mar 2020

Why hoarding of hydroxychloroquine needs to stop

A family of old antimalarial drugs — including one that some patients rely on to treat their lupus or rheumatoid arthritis — is becoming harder to get in the United States, pharmacists say, partly because of remarks President Donald Trump has made, highlighting the drugs as a potential treatment for COVID-19.

25 Mar 2020

Huge WHO trial of COVID-19 therapies begins

As the world reels from the devastating impact and the looming threat of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, researchers around the globe are racing to find a cure that will reduce symptom severity and reverse the course of the disease, freeing up more hospital space and making it possible to treat more of the severely affected cases.

24 Mar 2020

DFG underlines the need for long-term, knowledge-driven basic research

In view of the coronavirus pandemic, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft has underlined the need for long-term, knowledge-driven basic research.

21 Mar 2020

Researchers highlight urgent need for public health leadership during COVID-19 pandemic

For decades, public health officials have directed the containment of emerging pandemics - perhaps most notably - the worldwide eradication of smallpox starting in the early to mid-1960s.

19 Mar 2020

Triple therapies effective and safe in malaria

A new study describing the outcome of a clinical trial of two malaria treatment protocols involving the use of triple therapies based on artemisinin reports their high efficacy and low adverse effects.

12 Mar 2020

Demand for coffee has a direct link to malaria risk

A new study published in the journal Nature Communications in March 2020 reports that a fifth of the malaria risk in deforestation hot spots is down to the export trade in coffee, timber, soybean, cocoa, wood products, palm oil tobacco, beef, and cotton.

9 Mar 2020

Individual responsibility to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is equally vital as government action

How individuals respond to government advice on preventing the spread of COVID-19 will be at least as important, if not more important, than government action, according to a new commentary from researchers at the University of Oxford and Imperial College London in the UK, and Utrecht University and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands.

7 Mar 2020

Novel compounds show promise as potent new treatment for malaria

A novel class of antimalarial compounds that can effectively kill malaria parasites has been developed by Australian and US researchers.

4 Mar 2020

How malaria evades the body’s immune response

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. In 2018, there were over 200 million cases of malaria worldwide. Now, a team of researchers found evidence that the malaria parasite can detect a molecule released by approaching immune cells, using it to protect itself and evade the attack by the body’s immune system.

19 Feb 2020