Malaria Game

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Play now! Test your malaria diagnostic skills (no experience necessary) and help in creating a useful database for scientists and doctors at the same time. This game, designed by researchers at UCLA, was launched on April 25, 2014 (World Malaria Day) as a novel and highly innovative approach to address the challenges of diagnosing malaria. Your efforts will help to create a bank of gold-standard images that can be used for teaching, automatic screening, and many other potential uses. Click the “Instructions” tab for more information about getting started, or “Start” to dive right in – you can also invite all your friends to compete with you via the global leaderboard.

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UCSF Joins Research Partnership to Eliminate Malaria in Namibia

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The Global Health Group at University of California San Francisco (UCSF) is celebrating the success of Namibia, where malaria case have dropped 98 percent over the past decade.

In 2003, Namibia saw 450,000 cases of malaria; in 2013, that number fell to 2,500. The country is now on track to becoming malaria-free by 2020.

The deadly disease, caused by parasites that are transmitted from person to person by mosquitoes, is now found mostly in the northern regions of Namibia.

The National Vector-borne Disease Control Program (NVDCP) at the Namibia Ministry of Health and Social Services effectively controls the spread of malaria with interventions such as spraying dwellings with insecticides, distributing mosquito nets treated with insecticides, using malaria tests that can give accurate results within 15 minutes, and distributing medicines that kill the parasite.
The UCSF Global Health Group’s Malaria Elimination Initiative is teaming up with the Multidisciplinary Research Centre at the University of Namibia, the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and others to research new strategies and interventions that the NVDCP can use to get rid of the remaining pockets of transmission and eliminate malaria by 2020. Members of this research partnership will be working together to strengthen the national malaria surveillance system, learn more about how to eliminate the remaining reservoirs of infection in the Zambezi region, and understand the risk factors that are associated with malaria transmission.

The steering committee of the malaria research partnership meets with the chancellor and vice chancellor of the University of Namibia. Photo courtesy of Novartis Foundation

Worldwide, an estimated 3.3 million lives have been saved since 2000 through stepped up malaria control and elimination efforts, according to the World Health Organization. Mortality rates have been cut almost in half.

UCSF’s Global Health Group received a $15 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in December to help nearly three dozen countries eliminate malaria within their borders.

In 2012, an estimated 207 million people got sick from malaria, and 627,000 of them died, mostly children under five in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2013, 97 countries had on-going malaria transmission.

Applying Research to Malaria Elimination in Namibia
NVDCP, UCSF and their partners have been working in Ohangwena and Omusati regions since 2012 to conduct similar research to understand malaria transmission.

Early results from initial studies show that people who become infected with malaria are more likely to be young males who have traveled recently to areas with more malaria, and those who live with or near people infected with malaria. Often these malaria-infected neighbors and household members do not show signs and symptoms because the number of parasites infecting them is very low. These “asymptomatic” individuals pose a new challenge for the NVDCP in achieving malaria elimination because they’re tough to identify.

To address these challenges, the NVDCP has implemented a new strategy called reactive case detection, which requires health staff to follow up on every case of malaria to determine where the infection came from, and whether it has spread to other people.

Starting in May 2014, the research partners will begin supporting the NVDCP in Zambezi to ensure that every malaria case is reported. Members of the research team will work alongside NVDCP staff to conduct reactive case detection and map each reported case with mobile technologies, to better understand where malaria occurs. This information will be used to help the NVDCP and its research partners to better understand malaria transmission patterns in Zambezi region, and ultimately select the most effective and efficient strategies to eliminate it.

This groundbreaking research is not only providing answers to vital questions for malaria elimination in Namibia, but is also generating knowledge that will be useful for other countries who seek to eliminate malaria.

The UCSF Global Health Group, part of the UCSF Global Health Sciences, is an “action tank” dedicated to translating new approaches into large-scale action to improve the lives of millions of people. The Group’s Malaria Elimination Initiative provides research and advocacy support to countries moving towards an evidence-based path to malaria elimination.

Source: UCSF

World Malaria Day 2014

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World Malaria Day (WMD) is commemorated every year on 25 April and recognizes global efforts to control malaria. Globally, 3.3 billion people in 106 countries are at risk of malaria. In 2012, malaria caused an estimated 627,000 deaths, mostly among African children. Asia, Latin America, and to a lesser extent the Middle East and parts of Europe are also affected.

World Malaria Day sprung out of the efforts taking place across the African continent to commemorate Africa Malaria Day. WMD is one of eight official global public health campaigns currently marked by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with World Health Day, World Blood Donor Day, World Immunization Week, World Tuberculosis Day, World No Tobacco Day, World Hepatitis Day and World AIDS Day.

World Malaria Day was established in May 2007 by the 60th session of the World Health Assembly, WHO’s decision-making body. The day was established to provide “education and understanding of malaria” and spread information on “year-long intensified implementation of national malaria-control strategies, including community-based activities for malaria prevention and treatment in endemic areas.”

Prior to the establishment of WMD, Africa Malaria Day was held on April 25. Africa Malaria Day began in 2001, one year after the historic Abuja Declaration was signed by 44 malaria-endemic countries at the African Summit on Malaria.

World Malaria Day allows for corporations (such as Exxon Mobile), multinational organizations (such as Malaria No More) and grassroots organizations (such as Mosquitoes Suck Tour) globally to work together to bring awareness to malaria and advocate for policy changes.

Each WMD focuses on a specific theme. The theme of World Malaria Day 2014 and in coming years is “Invest in the future: Defeat malaria.”

Goal: energize commitment to fight malaria

World Malaria Day was instituted by WHO Member States during the World Health Assembly of 2007. It is an occasion to highlight the need for continued investment and sustained political commitment for malaria prevention and control. It is also an opportunity:

  • for countries in affected regions to learn from each other’s experiences and support each other’s efforts;
  • for new donors to join a global partnership against malaria;
  • for research and academic institutions to flag scientific advances to both experts and the general public; and
  • for international partners, companies and foundations to showcase their efforts and reflect on how to further scale up interventions.

Global efforts to control and eliminate malaria have saved an estimated 3.3 million lives since 2000, reducing malaria mortality rates by 42% globally and 49% in Africa. Increased political commitment and expanded funding have helped to reduce malaria incidence by 25% globally, and 31% in Africa.

Malaria still kills an estimated 627 000 people every year, mainly children under 5 years of age in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2013, 97 countries had on-going malaria transmission.

Every year, more than 200 million cases occur; most of these cases are never tested or registered. Emerging drug and insecticide resistance threaten to reverse recent gains.

For more information:

Sources: WHO, Wikipedia

British Container Breeding Mosquitoes: The Impact of Urbanisation and Climate Change on Community Composition and Phenology

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The proliferation of artificial container habitats in urban areas has benefitted urban adaptable mosquito species globally. In areas where mosquitoes transmit viruses and parasites, it can promote vector population productivity and fuel mosquito-borne disease outbreaks. In Britain, storage of water in garden water butts is increasing, potentially expanding mosquito larval habitats and influencing population dynamics and mosquito-human contact. [Read more…]

Wolbachia Infection Modifies the Profile, Shuttling and Structure of MicroRNAs in a Mosquito Cell Line

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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that play important roles in many biological processes such as development, cell signaling and immune response. Small RNA deep sequencing technology provided an opportunity for a thorough survey of the miRNA profile of a mosquito cell line from Aedes aegypti. We characterized the miRNA composition of the nucleus and the cytoplasm of uninfected cells and compared it with the one of cells infected with the endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia strain wMelPop-CLA. We found an overall increase of small RNAs between 18 and 28 nucleotides in both cellular compartments in Wolbachia-infected cells and identified specific miRNAs induced and/or suppressed by the Wolbachia infection. We discuss the mechanisms that the cell may use to shuttle miRNAs between the cytoplasm and the nucleus. In addition, we identified piRNAs that changed their abundance in response to Wolbachia infection. The miRNAs and piRNAs identified in this study provide promising leads for investigations into the host-endosymbiont interactions and for better understanding of how Wolbachia manipulates the host miRNA machinery in order to facilitate its persistent replication in infected cells.

Citation: Mayoral JG, Etebari K, Hussain M, Khromykh AA, Asgari S (2014) Wolbachia Infection Modifies the Profile, Shuttling and Structure of MicroRNAs in a Mosquito Cell Line. PLoS ONE 9(4): e96107. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0096107

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Copyright: © 2014 Mayoral et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

IgG1 and IgG4 Antibody Responses to the Anopheles gambiae Salivary Protein gSG6

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Human antibody response to the Anopheles gambiae salivary protein gSG6 has recently emerged as a potentially useful tool for malaria epidemiological studies and for the evaluation of vector control interventions. However, the current understanding of the host immune response to mosquito salivary proteins and of the possible crosstalk with early response to Plasmodium parasites is still very limited. We report here the analysis of IgG1 and IgG4 subclasses among anti-gSG6 IgG responders belonging to Mossi and Fulani from Burkina Faso, two ethnic groups which are known for their differential humoral response to parasite antigens and for their different susceptibility to malaria. The IgG1 antibody response against the gSG6 protein was comparable in the two groups. On the contrary, IgG4 titers were significantly higher in the Fulani where, in addition, anti-gSG6 IgG4 antibodies appeared in younger children and the ratio IgG4/IgG1 stayed relatively stable throughout adulthood. Both gSG6-specific IgG1 and IgG4 antibodies showed a tendency to decrease with age whereas, as expected, the IgG response to the Plasmodium circumsporozoite protein (CSP) exhibited an opposite trend in the same individuals. These observations are in line with the idea that the An. gambiae gSG6 salivary protein induces immune tolerance, especially after intense and prolonged exposure as is the case for the area under study, suggesting that gSG6 may trigger in exposed individuals a Th2-oriented immune response.

Citation: Rizzo C, Ronca R, Lombardo F, Mangano V, Sirima SB, et al. (2014) IgG1 and IgG4 Antibody Responses to the Anopheles gambiae Salivary Protein gSG6 in the Sympatric Ethnic Groups Mossi and Fulani in a Malaria Hyperhendemic Area of Burkina Faso. PLoS ONE 9(4): e96130. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0096130

Read Full Article (PDF) – IgG1 and IgG4 Antibody Responses to the Anopheles gambiae Salivary Protein gSG6 in the Sympatric Ethnic Groups Mossi and Fulani in a Malaria Hyperhendemic Area of Burkina Faso

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Targeting NAD+ Metabolism in the Human Malaria Parasite Plasmodium falciparum

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Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is an essential metabolite utilized as a redox cofactor and enzyme substrate in numerous cellular processes. Elevated NAD+ levels have been observed in red blood cells infected with the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, but little is known regarding how the parasite generates NAD+. Here, we employed a mass spectrometry-based metabolomic approach to confirm that P. falciparum lacks the ability to synthesize NAD+ de novo and is reliant on the uptake of exogenous niacin. [Read more…]

Diagnostic Testing of Pediatric Fevers: Meta-Analysis of 13 National Surveys Assessing Influences of Malaria Endemicity and Source of Care on Test Uptake for Febrile Children under Five Years

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In 2010, the World Health Organization revised guidelines to recommend diagnosis of all suspected malaria cases prior to treatment. There has been no systematic assessment of malaria test uptake for pediatric fevers at the population level as countries start implementing guidelines. We examined test use for pediatric fevers in relation to malaria endemicity and treatment-seeking behavior in multiple sub-Saharan African countries in initial years of implementation. [Read more…]

Dihydroartemisinin-Piperaquine vs. Artemether-Lumefantrine for First-Line Treatment of Uncomplicated Malaria in African Children: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

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Recent multi-centre trials showed that dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) was as efficacious and safe as artemether-lumefantrine (AL) for treatment of young children with uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria across diverse transmission settings in Africa. Longitudinal follow-up of patients in these trials supported previous findings that DP had a longer post-treatment prophylactic effect than AL, reducing the risk of reinfection and conferring additional health benefits to patients, particularly in areas with moderate to high malaria transmission. [Read more…]

Global Warming May Lead to More Malaria

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British and American researchers predict that global warming could mean the spread of the deadly disease malaria to places where it is practically unknown.Writing in the journal Science, the researchers say they found what they call “indisputable evidence” of the effects of climate change.

Working in Colombia and Ethiopia, they say they discovered that malaria rises to higher elevations in warmer years and lower levels when temperatures are cooler.

They say if the planet keeps getting warmer, people living in higher level tropical regions would be especially vulnerable because they lack protection from the disease.

The World Health Organization says malaria kills more than 600,000 people a year with Africa especially hard hit.

Mosquitoes spread the disease.  It can be prevented by insecticides, mosquito nets and medicine.

Source: VOA News