Tag Archives: Malaria

Researchers Discover How Malaria Evades Immune System

Researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have discovered how malaria parasites evade the human immune system on their way to infecting people. Their discovery was published in Nature in late 2005. Essentially, the parasite has a number of cloaking … Continue reading

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India Uses Low-Tech Method of Malaria Control: Fish that Eat Mosquitoes

An Indian malaria researcher recently reported on the success of initial pilot projects to use fish that eat mosquito larvae to control malaria. This is a traditional method that was commonly used before the introduction of DDT in the 1950s … Continue reading

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Article Critical of World Health Organization’s Anti-Malaria Approach

Amir Attaran, who has been highly critical of donor organization’s approach to malaria control, published an opinion article in The Lancet in January arguing that “institutional inadequacies” in the World Health Organization’s anti-malaria efforts impede the organization’s ability to save … Continue reading

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Combination Therapy with Artemisinin Effective at Fighting Malaria

A review of existing studies of anti-malarial compound artemisinin recently concluded that adding the Chinese folk remedy for malaria to existing anti-malarial drugs increased the effectiveness of those drugs in fighting malaria. The International Artemisinin Study Group looked at 16 … Continue reading

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Bill Gates Donates $168 Million for Malaria Research

In September, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates announced a $168 million donation to fund malaria research. Currently only about $100 million is spent annually to research malaria, so Gates’ donation will have a significant impact on efforts to find treatments for … Continue reading

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Researchers Discover How Anti-Malaria Drug Works

For centuries people in China have used extracts from a plant called Sweet Wormwood to treat malaria. In August, British researchers published the results of their research outlining exactly how these drugs, known as artemisinins, work. The prevailing hypothesis had … Continue reading

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Largest Childhood Malaria Vaccine Trial Ever Underway

In July, the Malaria Vaccine Initiative announced that it would begin the largest malaria vaccine trial ever conducted in children. The vaccine trial was to take place in Mozambique. The vaccine in question — RTS,S — has already gone through … Continue reading

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Malaria Project Failing Due to Lack of Funds

An article published in the online Malaria Journal argues that the World Health Organization is woefully behind in its 1998 Roll Back Malaria plan that sought to cut malaria deaths in half by 2010 and then in half again by … Continue reading

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Killing Malaria by Starving It

Researchers at St George’s Hospital Medical School have come up with a novel way to attack the malaria parasite — starve it of the sugar it needs. The malaria parasite uses large amounts of glucose. The St. George’s researchers were … Continue reading

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State of The World’s Vaccines and Immunizations

A report by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the World Bank concluded that 3 out of 4 children around the world now have access to essential vaccines. But, of course, that means that fully 25 percent of the world’s … Continue reading

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