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.

The Effect of Climate Change on Malaria

In commemoration of World Malaria Day, 2021, we look at the relationship between malaria transmission and climate change.

What is Malaria?

Malaria Causes

World Malaria Day 2021: An interview with Sir Brian Greenwood

Malaria Mechanism

Malaria Diagnosis

Malaria Prevention

World Malaria Day 2021: Finding new approaches to fight malaria

Malaria Treatment

Malaria Epidemiology

Malaria History

Fighting malaria in 2021: Where are we now and where are we going?

See more featured articles »

Malaria Society And Culture

Malaria Symptoms

Malaria: A Force Shaping Blood Cell Evolution?

What is Cerebral Malaria?

Driving the Self-Destruction of Malaria-Transmitting Mosquitos

The Science Behind Why Mosquitoes Prefer to Bite Certain People

Latest Malaria News and Research

Global analysis highlights antibiotic consumption trends and AMR threat

A new study highlights recent, but fluctuating, growth in global human antibiotic consumption, one of the main drivers of growing antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

19 Nov 2024

Malaria crystal structure offers clues for more effective medications

Prof. Leslie Leiserowitz first became intrigued by malaria when he was a young boy in South Africa. His father, who scouted the continent in search of wood for the family business, brought back not only tales of elephants and gorillas but also skin rashes and ringing in his ears, side effects of the quinine he took to prevent malaria.

19 Nov 2024

Artemisinin resistance detected in children with severe malaria in Uganda

Indiana University School of Medicine researchers, in collaboration with colleagues at Makerere University in Uganda, have uncovered evidence of partial resistance to artemisinin derivatives -; the primary treatment for malaria -; in young children with severe, or "complicated," malaria.

15 Nov 2024

Study finds artemisinin resistance in African children with severe malaria

Mutations in malarial parasites linked to artemisinin-resistance in Southeast Asia have now been found in African children hospitalised for complicated malaria, according to a new study presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (ASTMH).

15 Nov 2024

California dengue cases prompt swift response from public health officials

Jason Farned and his team at the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District had spent years preparing for the likely arrival of dengue, a dangerous virus typically found in tropical climates outside the mainland United States.

12 Nov 2024

WHO report highlights surge in TB cases and deaths in 2023

The highest number of tuberculosis (TB) cases since global monitoring began were recorded in 2023, according to a report published by the World Health Organization (WHO).

6 Nov 2024

Deciphering the mechanisms of immune response with probabilistic graphical networks

Over the past two decades, new technologies have helped scientists generate a vast amount of biological data. Large-scale experiments in genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and cytometry can produce enormous quantities of data from a given cellular or multicellular system.

5 Nov 2024

WHO study names top pathogens in need of new vaccines

A new World Health Organization (WHO) study published today in eBioMedicine names 17 pathogens that regularly cause diseases in communities as top priorities for new vaccine development.

5 Nov 2024

Global warming nears 1.5°C threshold, escalating health risks worldwide

Record temperatures and pollution are escalating health risks worldwide. This report highlights the urgent need for integrated climate and health strategies.

5 Nov 2024

Study reveals cost-effective benefits of treating depression in low-income countries

Treating people in low-income countries for major depressive disorder can also help improve their physical health and household members' wellbeing, demonstrating that mental health treatments can be cost effective, according to a new RAND study.

30 Oct 2024

New toolkit aims to help U.S. hospitals spot deadly viral hemorrhagic fevers faster and safer

Researchers develop a laboratory toolkit to assist frontline healthcare facilities or the care of patients with suspected viral hemorrhagic fevers.

30 Oct 2024

New test promises to end malaria

Almost half of the world's population is at risk of malaria infection, with children and pregnant women at the highest risk of getting sick and dying from the disease. Current methods to detect this potentially deadly infection rely on obtaining an invasive blood sample, and each test has significant limitations that restrict its utility.

29 Oct 2024

WHO reports alarming rise in tuberculosis cases in 2023

The World Health Organization (WHO) today published a new report on tuberculosis revealing that approximately 8.2 million people were newly diagnosed with TB in 2023 – the highest number recorded since WHO began global TB monitoring in 1995.

29 Oct 2024

A promising new strategy for malaria drug development

Malaria kills over 600,000 people a year, and as the climate warms, the potential range of the disease is growing. While some drugs can effectively prevent and treat malaria, resistance to those drugs is also on the rise.

29 Oct 2024

Diagnostic toolkit aims to improve response to Marburg virus cases

Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHF) such as Marburg virus disease have been in the news recently, with more than 60 cases of Marburg confirmed in Rwanda.

26 Oct 2024

Deforestation drives a surge in malaria cases in the Amazon

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is linked to a rise in malaria cases, with a 1% increase in deforestation leading to a 6.3% spike in cases the following month. This relationship is strongest in highly forested and indigenous areas.

23 Oct 2024

Maternal antibodies may hinder malaria vaccine effectiveness in infants

Maternal antibodies passed across the placenta can interfere with the response to the malaria vaccine, which would explain its lower efficacy in infants under five months of age, according to research led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), in collaboration with seven African centers (CISM-Mozambique, IHI-Tanzania, CRUN-Burkina Faso, KHRC-Ghana, NNIMR-Ghana, CERMEL-Gabon, KEMRI-Kenya).

23 Oct 2024

Egypt achieves historic malaria-free certification

The World Health Organization (WHO) has certified Egypt as malaria-free, marking a significant public health milestone for a country with more than 100 million inhabitants.

21 Oct 2024

Novel method boosts MSC efficacy for articular cartilage repair

Researchers from the Critical Analytics for Manufacturing Personalized-Medicine (CAMP) Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG) at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, alongside collaborators from the National University of Singapore Tissue Engineering Programme (NUSTEP), have developed a novel method to enhance the ability of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) to generate cartilage tissue by adding ascorbic acid (AA) during MSC expansion.

18 Oct 2024

Brazil-Italy joint lab focuses on Alzheimer’s drug development

A self-proclaimed Brazil-Italy collaboration enthusiast, researcher Laura Bolognesi created the B2AlzD2 Joint Lab at the Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology of the Università di Bologna (UNIBO), the first Brazil-Bologna joint laboratory dedicated to the development of new drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

17 Oct 2024