- -08-04-09 Researchers Say They Found Malaria's Origin (CNN News)
- "Though not a public health issue in the United States, malaria infects 500 million people every year and kills between 1 million and 3 million. Its assault on humans has been relentless, especially among African children."
"Malaria hijacks and kills healthy red blood cells and infects the liver. If not treated soon after onset of symptoms -- such as fever, chills, diarrhea and shortness of breath -- those infected by malaria can have neurological problems or cognitive problems, or ultimately die."
"It is a biological menace, constantly morphing, eluding the best efforts to fight it." 08-09
- Global Malaria Partnership (RollBackMalaria.org)
- "On this World Malaria Day, the international community commits itself to eliminate malaria as a major global public health problem. RBM Partners and country representatives announce new ambitious initiatives to achieve universal coverage with malaria control tools in the countdown to 2010, to reach near-zero deaths by 2015 and begin to tackle malaria elimination in more countries. On World Malaria Day 2009, we rally for a single purpose: to show our political support to the Global Malaria Action Plan and to commit with vigour to its rapid and universal implementation." 04-07
- -A First-Ever Malaria Vaccine (Time.com)
- "A first-ever malaria vaccine tested in children in sub-Saharan Africa cut the risk of infection with malaria by about half — a remarkable achievement, considering there has never been a vaccine against a human parasite before, or against malaria, which infects millions of children each year." 12-11
- Anti-Malaria Vaccine Discovered (Scientific American)
- "A new vaccine stimulated human immune cells to recognize and kill malaria parasites in a recent clinical trial. The vaccine proved effective in both infected human blood samples and mice whose immune systems had been modified to mimic that of humans." 12-05
- Fever May Be Bad for Patients With Malaria (Scientific American)
- "Using samples obtained from 12 patients suffering from acute malaria infections, the team found that the stickiness of the parasitized blood cells increased upon heating."
"The results offer new insight into why malaria patients often deteriorate significantly at the fever stage. They also suggest that, contrary to one popular school of thought, which holds that quelling the fever slows the body's ability to clear the parasite, fever reduction may in fact stymie disease progression and enhance antimalarial drugs' ability to block parasite development." 12-05
- Freeing Merozoites a Key in Spread of Malaria (Scientific American)
- "An estimated 300 to 500 million people suffer from malaria, making it one of the most devastating diseases known."
"While inside a red blood cell, the malaria parasite produces so-called "merozoites," which go on to infect other cells. Suspecting that protein-degrading enzymes, o r proteases, might play a role in rupturing the blood cells and freeing the merozoites, researchers from Washington University studied the effects of a protease-blocking drug dubbed E64 on merozoite escape. Although the red blood cell membrane gave way, the drug appeared to thwart the rupture of a second membrane, which encases clusters of merozoites." 12-05
- Malaria Research Funded (CBS News)
- "Malaria research accounts for about one-third of 1 percent of the total amount of money spent on medical research and development, even though it accounts for 3 percent of all the productive years of life lost to diseases, a new report has found." 10-05
- Malaria a Fairly New Disease (Scientific American)
- "Malaria may not be an ancient plague but rather a fairly young one—about 10,000 years young. According to a study published Friday in Science, the initial spread of the disease parallels that of agriculture and early human civilization. So by looking at mutations in our own genes, scientists can track malaria's origins." 12-05
- Malaria-Resistant Mosquito Developed (CBS News)
- "Researchers have developed a malaria-resistant mosquito, a step that might one day help block the spread of an illness that has claimed millions of lives around the world." 03-07
- Small Children Die from Poverty (WashTimes.com)
- "The World Health Organization (WHO) says nearly 11 million children under age 5 die each year from easily preventable and cheaply cured diseases — including pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and complications during the first year of life."
"It costs just 2 cents for a six-month supply of vitamin A supplement, 15 cents for a five-day course of antibiotics to treat pneumonia and $15 to immunize a child against the six main childhood diseases, according to the U.S. Coalition for Child Survival."
"A bed net, treated to kill and repel malarial mosquitoes, costs less than $10."
"The United States spent $1.7 billion on global health, education and population programs in 2001, according to rough calculations based on figures from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. France was the second-biggest spender, with $1.1 billion in aid, followed by Germany at $1 billion and Japan at nearly $800 million."