topnaman | Malaria blog

Bate et al. tested antimalarial quality for several drugs in 6 countries across sub-Saharan Africa and found an alarming 35% were substandard as gauged by thin layer chromatography or dissolution tests. The authors did not attempt to assess whether counterfeit or not as the outcome would remain the same – i.e. the drugs are substandard [...]

This is cool. Often much research feels far removed from everyday applications and practical concerns. So it is terribly rewarding to see a skunk works type creation that has great potential for how we deliver care. The CellScope is a microscope attachment for cellular phones which is designed to allow field workers to take images [...]

In early April of this year a Vietnamese news source carried an article about the challenges of malaria control and the possibility of future malaria epidemics. A substantial portion of the piece focused on antimalarial resistance, including high failure rates of chloroquine and sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine. What was surprising was a passing mention of artesunate failures:
… while [...]

While most scientists agree that climate change will alter infectious disease ecology, the extent of that influence is unknown – except that less developed countries will bear the brunt of the burden. In Papua New Guinea, one of the world’s most malarious countries, malaria is now occurring in highland areas once thought to be [...]

Artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs) have become the global standard for the treatment of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in areas with existing or emerging drug resistance. ACTs have several advantages: combination therapy diminishes the probability of de novo mutation, artemisinin is the most schizonticidal drug and reduces parasite biomass very rapidly resulting in faster clearance rates, and [...]

The world’s most potent antimalarial, artemisinin, is not available to physicians in the United States but a CDC investigational new drug (IND) project is trying to change that. Over 1,000 cases of malaria are imported into the United States every year and many cases present with severe complications as most travelers lack any natural immunity. [...]

An estimated 250 million nets at $10 a piece are needed to achieve the current UN goal of 80% coverage in high risk groups – pregnant women and children under five. UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon has raised the bar calling for universal coverage with nets by 2010 as part of his plan to [...]

As large scale distributions of insecticide treated bed-nets continue, the selection pressure for insecticide resistance increases. Insecticide resistance, particularly to DDT, helped destroy the malaria control efforts of many countries in the 1960s-70s. Monitoring insecticide resistance is part and parcel of any indoor residual spraying (IRS) program, and is arguably even more important for bed-nets. [...]