Malaria is an infectious disease characterized by cycles of chills, fever, and sweating, caused by a protozoan of the genus Plasmodium in red blood cells, which is transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected female anopheles mosquito.
Ranbaxy commences phase-iii clinical trials for its new anti-malarial molecule. The drug aims to transform the treatment of malaria in developing countries. – Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited (Ranbaxy) announced the commencement of Phase-III clinical trials for its new Anti-malaria combination drug, Arterolane maleate + Piperaquine phosphate in India, Bangladesh and Thailand.
Some rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for malaria perform exceptionally well in tropical temperatures and can detect even low parasite densities in blood samples. – The largest-ever independent, laboratory-based evaluation of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for malaria has shown that some tests on the market perform exceptionally well in tropical temperatures and can detect even low parasite densities in blood samples, while other tests can detect parasites only at high densities.
On World Malaria Day, UNICEF highlights successes but calls for greater effort. – Progress has been made in combating malaria, particularly in Africa where the disease is most prevalent, but more must be done to address the global scourge, UNICEF said, as it released a new joint report on the eve of World Malaria Day.
Zambia is the latest African country to reach the Roll Back Malaria target of a more than 50% reduction of mortality from malaria compared to 2000. – Malaria deaths reported from health facilities in Zambia have declined by 66%. This result along with other supporting data indicates that Zambia has reached the 2010 Roll Back Malaria target of a more than 50% reduction in malaria mortality compared to 2000.
A team of Monash University researchers has made a major breakthrough in the international fight against malaria. – Australian researchers have made a major breakthrough in the international fight against malaria, which claims the life of a child across the world every 30 seconds.
A huge rise in the numbers of UK residents travelling to malaria endemic areas, combined with a failure to use prevention measures, has significantly increased cases of imported falciparum malaria in the UK over the past 20 years. – Over the past 20 years, cases of imported falciparum malaria in the UK have significantly increased due to rise in the numbers of UK residents travelling to malaria endemic areas, combined with a failure to use prevention measures.
A strain of malaria thought previously to be ?benign? has been found to be potentially fatal in a recent study. – Plasmodium vivax can cause severe malaria associated with substantial morbidity and mortality, show two studies published in PLoS Medicine this week. These findings challenge the current dogma that P. falciparum can be severe and life-threatening whereas Plasmodium vivax tends to be mild, according to the related commentary by Stephen Rogerson (University of Melbourne, Australia), an expert not connected with these studies.
