Malaria News and Research

Latest Malaria News and Research

Scripps Research team receives $12 million grant to improve flu and malaria vaccines

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute aim to improve flu and malaria vaccines with the support of a new $12 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

3 May 2018

Ticks and mosquitoes a “growing health problem” says CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a new report warning people about the myriad of diseases that are transmitted via bites of blood-sucking insects such as ticks, mosquitoes and fleas calling it a “growing health problem” in the United States.

2 May 2018

Study: Dehydration prompts increased blood feeding by mosquitoes

When it's hot and dry, mosquitoes like nothing more than the refreshing taste of you.

2 May 2018

Study shows gene variations associated with malaria risk

Many people of African heritage are protected against malaria by inheriting a particular version of a gene, a large-scale study has shown.

25 Apr 2018

Meningitis in Newborns: What to Look Out For

Claire is Evidence & Policy Manager at the UK and international charity Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF). She discusses the signs and symptoms of meningitis in newborns, and the aims for the recent diagnostic eTool developed by the MRF.

24 Apr 2018

Researchers use smartphone to diagnose people infected with Loa loa worm

The Berkeley researchers figured out that they could quickly determine who has the Loa loa worm using a smartphone, customized to work like a microscope. They could then skip the medication for those people and give it to everyone else. Kamgno, who received the latest version of the phones in 2016, dubbed the mobile microscopes "revolutionary."

19 Apr 2018

Researchers discover unique protein in malaria parasite that could be new drug target

Over a thousand people die from malaria every day. The disease is caused by a single-cell parasite (protozoan) that is transmitted by mosquitoes. Anti-malaria efforts currently focus on effective diagnostics, mosquito nets, insecticides and drugs.

18 Apr 2018

Many European countries lack comprehensive policy to eliminate viral hepatitis

Many European countries lack a comprehensive policy to eliminate viral hepatitis as a major public health threat, according to a patient group-based survey implemented in 25 countries.

18 Apr 2018

Study may change global guidelines for managing children with uncomplicated fever

Children in sub-Saharan Africa with uncomplicated fever may be safely managed with conditional, rather than universal, 3-day follow-up with a community health worker, according to a randomized trial by researchers at Karolinska Institutet published in PLOS Medicine.

18 Apr 2018

Specific odors from malaria infected individuals attract more mosquitoes

Malaria causes the bodies of its human hosts to emit specific odors from the skin that make the hosts even more attractive to mosquitoes, which invites further bites and risks infection of more mosquitoes and wider transmission of the disease.

17 Apr 2018

Researchers create biocompatible gels using caffeine as catalyst

Caffeine is well-known for its ability to help people stay alert, but a team of researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women's Hospital has now come up with a novel use for this chemical stimulant -- catalyzing the formation of polymer materials.

13 Apr 2018

Temperature has marked effect on toxicity of insecticides used for malaria control

Ambient temperature has a marked effect on the toxicity of the most commonly used insecticides for malaria control, according to a study led by ISGlobal, an institution supported by the "la Caixa" Foundation.

13 Apr 2018

Simple web-based tool for evidence-based integration of disease control

It's a simple idea: Pair the control of a neglected tropical disease with a more prominent disease that afflict the same populations to reduce morbidity and mortality. The approach could be a win-win, but for public health officials, having evidence to support implementation of an integrated approach is vital.

12 Apr 2018

PBO long-lasting insecticidal nets found to be effective in reducing malaria prevalence

Bed nets coated with a long-lasting chemical – called piperonyl butoxide (PBO) – combined with pyrethroid insecticide reduced the prevalence of malaria in children by 44% over one year, and 33% over two years, compared to the bed nets currently used, according to a randomized controlled trial published in The Lancet.

12 Apr 2018

Researcher explores how children develop immunity to malaria as they grow older

Across the world, over 200 million cases of malaria and nearly 500,000 deaths from the disease occur annually--more than 90 percent of which happen in Africa. Children in Africa can be diagnosed with malaria two or three times a year, a rate that decreases as they become older and develop immunity. But the way children generate and maintain this immunity remains a mystery.

11 Apr 2018

New campaign film and call for global leaders to end deadly malaria

Eight celebrities, one annoying buzz and a call on global leaders for bold political action to end the world’s oldest and deadliest disease. A new60” campaign film for Malaria Must Die, So Millions Can Live features James Corden, Andy Murray, Helen Mirren, Brenda Blethyn, Afro-beats star Yemi Alade, John Bishop and boxer David Hayeswatting away a persistent mosquito.

9 Apr 2018

Human genome is like a time machine, says researcher

The human genome is a bit like a time machine, says Ben Voight, an associate professor in Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics and of Genetics in Penn's Perelman School of Medicine.

3 Apr 2018

Study depicts natural dynamics of P. falciparum infections in adults with no symptoms

Asymptomatic malaria occurs when parasites are present in an individual's blood but do not cause fever or other symptoms. These "afebrile" infections can be detected either by classical diagnosis tests (if there are enough parasites in blood) or by molecular amplification techniques (if there are very few).

30 Mar 2018

New $3.2 million grant funds research to advance promising malaria vaccine

The Global Health Innovative Technology Fund has awarded the University of Florida and partners in the United States and Japan $3.2 million to advance a promising vaccine to prevent transmission of malaria.

29 Mar 2018

LSTM researchers show potential of novel antiparasitic drug to combat malaria

Researchers from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine have shown the large potential impact of a completely new type of antimalarial drug that kills mosquitoes, as opposed to existing drugs that target the parasite, to reduce the spread of malaria.

27 Mar 2018