topnaman | Malaria blog

Rapid diagnostic tests for malaria (and other diseases) can extend diagnosis to remote areas. This is sorely needed. Beyond benefits against the disease at hand, the introduction of diagnostics along with associated systems of quality assurance can strengthen the overall health system (previously discussed here). A major barrier for expanding the use of rapid tests [...]

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From James | Parasitesinhumans.org:
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that the famous pharaoh Tutankhamun was killed by malaria. According to their analysis, Tutankhamun was weakened by malaria and Köhler disease II. Tutankhamun ruled Egypt in 1334-1325 BC and he died [...]

And I’ve made it another year… Finding the time to update the site certainly has not gotten any easier but writing is still just as fun. This is also a great excuse to look at some numbers.
Comparing some stats between last year and this one:

2008
2009
Total

Countries
79
106
120

Unique visitors
1,518
2,831
4,349

Page views
4,798
6,811
11,609

Posts
38
34
72

Words
11,157
6,244
17,401

The top twenty countries in terms of visitors:

1
United States
11
Germany

2
India
12
Indonesia

3
United [...]

Millions of people owe their lives to Fred Soper. Why isn’t he a hero?
Asks Malcolm Gladwell in his essay The Mosquito Killer. The article is an excellent look at the role played by an American physician in initiating the global malaria eradication efforts of the 50s and 60s.  Gladwell has a very accessible writing style, but sometimes his narrative [...]

The world-wide antimalarial resistance network (WWARN) is a great idea. The concept is simple: drug-resistant strains spread and a bigger picture is needed – consolidate data from existing monitoring efforts and standardize protocols to ensure comparability. A series of articles in 2009, published in Malaria Journal, outlined the rationale and a plan for creating a global [...]

Below is a comment, on the PMI clarification, from one of the authors of the WHO Bulletin article.
In regard to the Director’s response to criticisms about the PMI program in Angola, I would like to make a few comments, having written the article in English, with the approval of my two colleagues, especially Martinho Somandjinga, [...]

The title of this post is a bit sensational for my tastes but honest in regards to the charges levied by Somandjinga et al in the Bulletin of the WHO. The history of malaria control is replete with stories of gaffes small and large. However, the “policy and practice” article contains frank and detailed criticism, [...]

Two events prompted this post. First, several people have asked me if the malaria vaccine they heard about in the news will eliminate malaria. Second, the GSK CEO Andrew Witty discussed pricing strategies (5% profit above the yet unknown production costs) for this vaccine, called RTS,S, at a recent talk. Wait – pricing? We don’t [...]

As a follow-up to the previous post on the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine is a remarkable piece of history on its origins written by Helen Power. The subtitle “institutionalizing medical research in the periphery” summarizes the article and the insights one can expect from reviewing such a process. How are institutions forged? Who decides [...]

Need to stay up to date on malaria research? MalariaWorld is a site which consolidates and summarizes recent papers. They also have a blog and a useful list of malaria related job openings and graduate research positions.