29.10.2007
The Big 3 v Neglected Diseases [Al Jazeera English] — (English)
Each week The Pulse showcases topical stories from around the world and from laboratories working on new cures, vaccines and treatments...
28.10.2007
Researchers aim to use mosquitos to bite back at malaria [ New African United Kingdom ] — (English)
A US scientist is leading an international team of researchers using an army of blood-sucking mosquitos to produce a potentially potent vaccine against malaria. Stephen Hoffman, 58, founded Sanaria Inc., a biotech firm solely dedicated to the production of a vaccine against malaria, a mosquito-borne disease that kills one million people a year, many of them African children...
Malaria treatments need updating [The Washington Times - US] — (English)
Letters to the Editor: The Oct. 25 article on UNICEF and malaria offers encouragement but also raises troubling issues ("UNICEF hails progress against malaria," World, Thursday). Foremost is the monumental scope of the problem...
UNICEF hails progress against malaria [The Washington Times - US] — (English)
An increase in the use of insecticide-treated bed nets and the switch to more effective drugs are beginning to make a difference in the fight against malaria, according to a UNICEF report...
27.10.2007
Malaria Research Institute Sums Up Recent Progress [Science Daily (press release) - USA] — (English)
"Breaking the Cycle" chronicles five years of scientific discovery conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute. Founded at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2001, JHMRI is a state-of-the-art malaria research facility with 19 full-time faculty dedicated to the search for medical and scientific breakthroughs in malaria prevention and treatment by advancing basic science along every stage of the malaria parasite lifecycle...
Protein-Based Vaccine May Protect Against Malaria [Science Daily (press release) - USA] — (English)
By studying antibodies in the blood of Amazonian natives living in malaria endemic areas, researchers have discovered promising new targets for a malarial vaccine...
Malaria vaccine plant takes a gamble [Reuters South Africa - Johannesburg,South Africa] — (English)
The insects' suburban Maryland home is owned by Sanaria Inc., which cut the ribbon on Friday on its new facility. Founder and chief executive officer Dr. Stephen Hoffman is taking a gamble that he can do what has been impossible -- make a vaccine against malaria...
Malaria vaccine plant takes a gamble [ The Scotsman - United Kingdom ] — (English)
In a nondescript office park tucked between a hospital and a strip mall thrive hundreds of thousands of the most infectious malaria-carrying mosquitoes ever born. They will be dissected for the motherlode that they carry -- baby malaria parasites, fodder for a new malaria vaccine...
Booster Shot [Forbes.com - United States ] — (English)
A new golden age of vaccines is at hand, promising inoculations against malaria, meningitis and much more...
New front launched in war on malaria [Business Gazette - Gaithersburg,MD,USA] — (English)
Five years ago, "everybody in the field of vaccines" thought using mosquitoes as factories to produce a malaria vaccine was just crazy, recalls Stephen L. Hoffman...
Malaria is Still the No 1 Killer of Children Under 5 in Uga [Associated Content - US] — (English)
In 1998, the Ministry of Health started the Roll Back Malaria campaign with four main strategies: Giving effective treatment to the community, preventing malaria in pregnancy using Fansidar, controlling mosquitoes using...
Int'l confab on malaria control opens Monday in Mali [Afrique en ligne - Angers,France] — (English)
An international five-day conference on malaria control will open here Monday, organisers told PANA Saturday...
Glance at 'Idol' Charities Spending [Forbes - NY,USA] — (English)
The American public donated more than $54 million to "Idol Gives Back," and corporate and matched funding brought it to $75 million, according to organizers. The money was being distributed roughly equally among the following projects in the United States and Africa...
26.10.2007
Tropical disease research: progress 2005-2006 [TDR] — (English)
The 18th Programme Report describes in detail the main projects and achievements of TDR during the 2005-2006 biennium...
Canadian Red Cross Takes the Bite Out of Malaria [Canada NewsWire (press release) - Toronto,Ontario,Canada] — (English)
The Canadian Red Cross is wrapping up a successful week-long distribution of over 500,000 mosquito nets in Madagascar
to help prevent the spread of malaria in children under five in Africa. This fall, the organization is embarking on its largest net distribution to date.
An additional 1.8 million mosquito nets will be hand-delivered to families in Mali by local Red Cross volunteers in December...
Malaria Treatment: ACT Two [Science Magazine] — (English)
An influx of money and a new generation of drugs called artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) are raising optimism that malaria's toll can be reduced...
Battling Over Bed Nets [Science Magazine] — (Français)
A collision of big thinking and logistical realities has sparked an intense debate over how best to deliver bed nets to combat malaria in Africa...
A Proof of Principle [Science Magazine] — (Français)
What if money were no object and you could employ all the weapons that exist today to fight malaria in one country? How much could you reduce mortality? That experiment, known as the Malaria Control and Evaluation Partnership in Africa (MACEPA), is going great guns in Zambia...
MDG Inspiration Fund launched to fight malaria, other preventable diseases [Episcopal News Service - New York,NY,USA] — (English)
The MDG Inspiration Fund will save lives and fight disease, Robert Radtke, president of Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), told the Episcopal Church's Executive Council during its meeting in Dearborn, Michigan at the October 26 launching of the Fund...
UN foresees major drop in malaria [Pretoria News - South Africa ] — (English)
African countries were making vital headway in preventing malaria among children, thanks to wider distribution of insecticide-treated bednets and procurement of new drugs, a UN-backed report said...
Côte d'Ivoire: Lutte contre le paludisme - Un nouveau médicament en pharmacie [Nord-Sud (Abidjan) via AllAfrica.com] — (Français)
Une bonne nouvelle pour les malades du paludisme. Le laboratoire chinois Kuming pharmaceutical Corp (Kpc), vient de lancer un nouveau médicament contre cette maladie qui tue un enfant dans le monde toutes les 30 secondes...
25.10.2007
Fight Against Malaria Making Progress [US Department of State - Washington,DC,USA] — (English)
Less than a year after President Bush and first lady Laura Bush hosted the White House Summit on Malaria, the worldwide effort to halt the disease is making significant progress, according to Malaria and Children, a new report prepared by UNICEF on behalf of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership (RBM)...
Financial Incentives May Hold Key To Cutting Child Malaria Deaths [Science Daily (press release) - USA] — (English)
Giving small financial incentives to health workers in low-income countries may hold the key to reducing the huge death toll from malaria in young children, according to a study published on the British Medical Journal website...
Transmission of malaria and genotypic variability of Plasmodium falciparum on the Island of Annobon (Equatorial Guinea) [Malaria Journal 2007, 6:141 (25 October 2007)] — (English)
Based on the high degree of geographical isolation of the Annobon population and the apparent marked seasonality of the transmission, it is conceivqble that malaria could be eliminated from this small African island...
Evaluation of the intra- and inter-specific genetic variability of Plasmodium lactate dehydrogenase [Malaria Journal 2007, 6:140 (25 October 2007)] — (English)
Intra-specific genetic variability is not a significant factor in the variation of efficiency observed in RDTs in the detection of malaria parasites. pLDH offers advantages as a target antigen for diagnosis. The identification of pan-specific and species-specific regions may help in development of more sensitive and specific monoclonal antibodies for MRDTs...
Global Health Forum helps battle malaria [Swarthmore College The Phoenix Online - PA, United States] — (English)
Global Health Forum, a newly formed student group, has begun working towards its goal of large-scale awareness of infectious diseases and is raising funds for fighting those diseases in developing nations. This semester the group will focus on raising awareness about the malaria epidemic, sponsoring an anti-malaria campaign that is set to begin on Thursday, Oct. 25 and will last through Thursday, Nov. 8...
Doctor: Malaria Vaccine Is Within Reach [NPR - USA] — (English)
Scientists have been searching for a malaria vaccine for decades. Now, one doctor thinks that his group is close. Dr. Fred Binka is Executive Director of the INDEPTH Network. Binka is on the verge of finding a vaccine for malaria...
GROUP PARTNER GOVERNMENT ON ROLL-BACK MALARIA [Akwa Ibom State - Nigeria] — (English)
Mother to Child Initiative, MCI, a Non-Governmental Organization, NGO, based in Uyo has pledged its readiness to join hands with government to roll-back-malaria. The executive director of Mother to Child Initiative, Mr Paul Inyang, stated this during an interactive session with newsmen in Uyo recently. Mr Inyang reasoned that malaria has constituted a gruesome burden to the State and nation at large and needed a concerted effort of many partners to roll back malaria. He pointed out that government alone cannot win in the battle of rolling-back malaria and called for private partnership effort to enable the government to succeed...
MALARIA: GROUP CHARGED TO COLLECT DATA IN AKWA IBOM [Akwa Ibom State - Nigeria] — (English)
The State Roll Back Malaria Partnership Forum alongside other anti-malaria agencies have been charged to undertake a research and data-based collection that will accelerate positive reduction of malaria burden in the State. The State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Louisa Ukpe, gave the charge in Uyo when the group paid her an advocacy visit in her office. Dr. Ukpe who noted that malaria has dealt a devastating blow in children as well as pregnant women, said there was need to combat it before it was too late. She was of the opinion that malaria has contributed to absenteeism of young children from school and adults from work and lauded the caliber of the forum, observing that all strata of the society were involved including the media...
Paludisme : l'espoir d'un vaccin [ L'Est Républicain - France ] — (Français)
Un prototype testé sur des nouveaux-nés africains a fortement réduit leur risque de contracter la maladie...
Ghana: Pregnant Women Advised to Use IPT to Prevent Malaria [Accra Mail (Accra) via AllAfrica.com] — (English)
A health officer has appealed to pregnant women to make use of the Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT) during the gestation period to prevent malaria infection during pregnancy...
Ghana: Help Me Eradicate Malaria [Accra Mail (Accra) via AllAfrica.com] — (English)
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Sheikh Ibrahim Cudjoe Quaye has appealed to the Chinese government to help him fight the war against malaria in the capital...
Côte d'Ivoire: Traitement du paludisme - Un laboratoire chinois fait don de médicaments à la côte d'Ivoire [Fraternité Matin (Abidjan) via AllAfrica.com] — (Français)
Arco comprimés ". Tel est le nom d'un nouveau médicament antipaludique, inventé par, " Kunming P.C ", un laboratoire chinois. Hier, un don de ce produit et " d'ARTEM injectable), d'une valeur totale de quarante- deux millions de francs (42 000 000 frs) a été fait à la Côte d'Ivoire par les responsables de l'entreprise avec à leur tête, M. Hopkin Hall, le directeur...
Côte d'Ivoire: Lutte contre le paludisme-Un nouveau médicament en prise unique bientôt sur le marché [Fraternité Matin (Abidjan) via AllAfrica.com] — (Français)
Le paludisme, deuxième cause de mortalité en Afrique demeure un problème majeur de santé public en Côte d'Ivoire et dans bien d'autres pays de la sous- région. Cette maladie touche 300 à 600 millions de personnes par an. En Afrique subsaharienne, le paludisme tue au moins 800.000 enfants de moins de 5 ans chaque année...
Extensão dos programas de prevenção da malária nos hospitais aumentam [AngolaPress] — (Portuguesa)
A perita em saúde pública, Adelaide de Carvalho disse hoje, em Luanda, que a extensão dos programas de saúde publica nos hospitais de referencia para o tratamento de doenças como malária, tuberculose, VIH/Sida com vista a redução destas patologias...
Malaria: Who is at Fault? [World Journal of Surgery] — (English)
The surgeon of 21st century United States or Europe is likely to be more concerned about his hospital’s methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus problem than the fate of a parasite that haunts 40% of the world’s population. Malaria, to a New York surgeon, is an archaic and irrelevant disease of the last century. To the surgeon of the clichéd Third World, however, the diagnosis of malaria assumes status and immediacy because he or she is still fighting, on a day-to-day basis, the parasite that (arguably) felled the great Roman Empire...
24.10.2007
Buy-A-Net Malaria Prevention Group Invited to Parliament Hill Buy-A-Net Campaign Goes to Ottawa [Market Wire (press release) - USA] — (English)
Debra Lefebvre, Founder, BUY-A-NET Malaria Prevention Group (BAN), today announced that BUY-A-NET has been invited to Parliament Hill for a "Parli-A-Net" reception, Tuesday, October 30th, 2007. Hosted by The Honourable Peter Milliken, M.P. (Kingston and the Islands), and Speaker of the House of Commons, the "Parli-A-Net" reception will bring together the High Commissioner of Uganda, His Excellency George Marino Abola, Members of Parliament, other dignitaries, invited guests, and volunteers of BUY-A-NET Malaria Prevention Group to highlight and recognize the measures taken by BUY-A-NET for controlling malaria...
Nobel winner to return to Hopkins [Baltimore Sun - United States] — (English)
Agre said he was returning largely for the malaria challenge. "I'm really excited about this," he said Wednesday. "Taking the malaria job is something I've been very eager to do." ...
Susceptibility of Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles stephensi to tropical isolates of Plasmodium falciparum [Malaria Journal 2007, 6:139 (24 October 2007)] — (English)
By assessing the susceptibility of different mosquitoes to different tropical isolates of pqrqsites, the authors addressed two important questions: whether the differentiated structure of Plasmodium falciparum populations results solely from geographical separation or whether the mosquito vector contributes to this population separation, and whether parasite-vector compatibility/incompatibility may impact on the spread of drug resistance between parasite populations...
Mannitol as adjunct therapy for childhood cerebral malaria in Uganda: a randomized clinical trial [Malaria Journal 2007, 6:138 (24 October 2007)] — (English)
This study addresses an important question in cerebral malaria: is mannitol effective adjunctive treatment for cerebral malaria? It is the first randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study to address this question. Although this cannot be considered a definitive study (for example, lack of crucial information about intracranial pressure) there is much to be learned from this study, because the study reflects conditions of actual practice in an African referral hospital...
Specialists in infectious disease and global health convene at Philadelphia meeting [ News-Medical - United Kingdom ] — (English)
Nearly 2,500 physicians and scientists from institutions around the world such as the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health will meet at the 56th American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's Annual Meeting on Nov. 4-8, in Philadelphia to discuss the latest research on infectious diseases and bioterrorist and global health threats...
West Africa: New approach to malaria recommended [ ReliefWeb - United Kingdom ] — (English)
A World Health Organization evaluation of West African countries' progress in controlling malaria has recommended that donors allocate more funds to indoor spraying and to helping countries purchase the latest anti-malarial drugs...
Afrique de l'Ouest: Une nouvelle stratégie pour combattre le paludisme [IRINNEWS via AllAfrica.com] — (Français)
Les participants à la réunion d'évaluation de l'Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS) des progrès des pays d'Afrique de l'Ouest en matière de lutte contre le paludisme ont recommandé aux bailleurs de fonds d'accroître leurs contributions pour financer des programmes de pulvérisation intérieure et aider les pays à se procurer les nouveaux traitements antipaludéens...
Update: New Malaria Cases in Kingston, Jamaica [CDC] — (English)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has received a report of an additional case of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in a resident of Kingston, Jamaica. This brings the total number of recent cases to two, suggesting that the outbreak that started in September 2006 resulting in 370 cases by June 2007 is still continuing. As a result, CDC is reinstating the recommendation that US travelers to Kingston, Jamaica, take malaria preventive medication (prophylaxis)...
Sénégal: 500.000 moustiquaires pour les enfants de 0 à 6 mois [Sud Quotidien (Dakar) via AllAfrica.com] — (Français)
La cellule de lutte contre la malnutrition dans le cadre de la prévention contre le paludisme a révélé hier que 500.000 moustiquaires seront distribuées gratuitement cette année dans le cadre de la prévention des enfants de 0 à 6 mois contre cette maladie...
Congo-Kinshasa: Des enfants privés de traitements efficaces [Le Potentiel (Kinshasa) via AllAfrica.com] — (Français)
Malgré des progrès en Afrique subsaharienne, beaucoup d'enfants restent privés de traitements efficaces contre le paludisme .Une maladie qui tue au moins 800.000 bambins de 0 à 5 ans par an, selon un rapport publié Unicef...
23.10.2007
Measles and Malaria prevention campaign in Madagascar [UNICEF] — (English)
The government of Madagascar, in collaboration with international partners, is launching a national health campaign to vaccinate more than 2.8 million children against measles and distribute more than 1.5 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets to prevent the spread of malaria...
Benin conducts anti-malaria bednet campaign to save children's lives [UNICEF] — (English)
This month, Benin conducted one of largest anti-malaria campaigns ever organized in the country. More than 1.6 million long lasting insecticide-treated bednets with the potential to protect 90 per cent of Benin’s children have been given out from 4,000 distribution posts nationwide by 28,000 distributors...
A Sugar Identified as Key to Malaria Parasite Invasion [Johns Hopkins Gazette - Baltimore,MD,USA] — (English)
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute have identified a sugar in mosquitoes that allows the malaria-causing parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, to attach itself to the mosquito's gut. Invasion of the midgut cell layer is an essential stage in the parasite's life cycle and in the transmission of malaria from mosquitoes to humans. By reducing the level of the sugar, chondroitin sulfate, in the mosquito, the researchers prevented 95 percent of the parasites in the mosquito from attaching to the gut, thus blocking its development. The study is published in the Sept. 10 online early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...
Stanley M. Aronson: Malaria and the Jesuit connection [Providence Journal - Providence,RI,USA] — (English)
WHEN REFLECTING upon the geographic distribution of malaria we think of the savannahs of sub-Saharan Africa, the riverside villages of southern Asia and the vivid images within Joseph Conrad’s tales describing dissolute, gin-drinking Europeans sweating profusely in tropical saloons. But the image of temperate climate England as the site of malarial epidemics seems, somehow, too strange to accept...
Nuts could cut malaria deaths: study [ABC Online - Australia] — (English)
New Australian and Indonesian research suggests that an amino acid found in nuts might help cut the death rate from malaria...
Rewards and supervision cut child malaria deaths-study [Reuters South Africa - Johannesburg,South Africa] — (English)
Strictly enforcing Malaria treatment guidelines and paying hospital workers extra halved mortality from the disease in one children's hospital ward, a study in Guinea-Bissau found...
Health Initiative - Malaria, measles and polio Appeal No. MAA60004 Programme Update No. 1 [ ReliefWeb - United Kingdom ] — (English)
This report covers the period of 01/01/2007 to 30/06/2007...
Malaria to be wiped out from W. Bengal [Khaleej Times - Dubai,United Arab Emirates] — (English)
The single-digit malaria death toll last year has spurred Kolkata Municipal Corporation to stamp out the disease altogether from the West Bengal capital...
Paludisme : des enfants privés de traitements efficaces [ Le Potentiel - CONGO, Democratic Republic of ] — (Français)
Malgré des progrès en Afrique subsaharienne, beaucoup d’enfants restent privés de traitements efficaces contre le paludisme Une maladie qui tue au moins 800.000 bambins de 0 à 5 ans par an, selon un rapport publié Unicef. Quelque 3 milliards de personnes, soit près de la moitié de la population mondiale, vivent dans des régions affectées par le paludisme. L’Afrique subsaharienne, où sévit la forme la plus grave, due au Plasmodium falciparum, est la plus durement touchée. «En Afrique subsaharienne, le paludisme tue au moins 800.000 enfants de moins de 5 ans chaque année», rappelle la directrice générale de l’Unicef, Ann Veneman...
Tanzania: U.S. Mission helps HIV/AIDS Orphans to Avoid Malaria [United States Embassy (Dar es Salaam) via AllAfrica.com] — (English)
Approximately 50 HIV/AIDS orphans in Misugusugu can now sleep without fear of malaria thanks to a donation by the U.S. Government on Monday. Representatives of the U.S. Mission to Tanzania visited Misugusugu to donate Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets to these young children in need. The U.S. Government-funded HIV/AIDS program TUNAJALI (We Care) and local NGO UMAKI joined in these efforts and provided instruction to care-givers on how to effectively use the nets for malaria prevention...
Nigeria: U.S. to Support Four States, FCT Against Malaria [Daily Trust (Abuja) via AllAfrica.com] — (English)
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in collaboration with Netm-ark and the Delybim Foundation, is working to reverse malaria scourge in four selected states of Lagos, Kano, Bauchi, Benue and the Federal Capital Territory...
Angola: Military Experts Attend Seminar On Fight Against Malaria [Angola Press Agency (Luanda) via AllAfrica.com] — (English)
Health Services in the second military region are promoting, as from this Tuesday to October 26, a training on new methods for the treatment of malaria, ANGOP has learnt...
Uganda: Agriculture Ministry, Exporters Delay DDT Spraying [New Vision (Kampala) via AllAfrica.com] — (English)
INDOOR residual spraying of DDT to combat malaria is being delayed by the agriculture ministry and exporters, the Ministry of Health officials, have said...
Afrique: Paludisme - la Fondation Gates réclame un nouvel engagement mondial [Sud Quotidien (Dakar) via AllAfrica.com] — (Français)
Adopter un objectif audacieux pour voir un jour disparaître le dernier cas de paludisme chez l'être humain et le dernier moustique porteur du parasite...
Angola: Séminaire sur les nouveaux méthodes de lutte contre la malaria à Cabinda [Angola Press Agency (Luanda) via AllAfrica.com] — (Français)
Un séminaire sur les nouvelles méthodes de lutte contre la malaria se réalise du 23 au 26 octobre à Cabinda, sous l'égide des Services de Santé Militaire de la IIè région...
Burkina Faso: Lutte contre le paludisme: Conjuguer les efforts pour éradiquer la pandémie [Sidwaya (Ouagadougou) via AllAfrica.com] — (Français)
Les progrès de la science donnent à espérer quant à l'éradication du paludisme sur la planète Terre. Bill et Melinda Gates ont appelé les décideurs du monde entier à adopter "un objectif audacieux : voir un jour disparaître le dernier cas de paludisme chez l'être humain et le dernier moustique porteur du parasite"...
Articles requiring subscription
Is malaria eradication possible? [The Lancet, Volume 370, Issue 9597, 27 October 2007-2 November 2007, Page 1459 ] — (English)
Bill and Melinda Gates have taken a risk by issuing their call for eradication. Their appeal will no doubt be met with some scepticism. But by calling for eradication they have rightly challenged the global health community to ask itself whether it should not be more ambitious. Only by setting our collective sights higher will we make the progress we know we can make against malaria...
Type blood O confers resistance to malaria [The New Scientist, Volume 196, Issue 2627, 27 October 2007, Page 16 ] — (English)
The blood type prevents the malaria parasite from causing a severe form of the disease...
Reversible hearing loss in temporal association with chemoprophylactic mefloquine use [Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 26 October 2007 ] — (English)
A 67 year old Caucasian lady received pre-travel immunizations against tetanus, diphtheria, typhoid fever, hepatitis A, and mefloquine chemoprophylaxis. Left sided hearing loss consequent upon tympanic rupture was present since childhood; she was otherwise in good health and without history of recent upper respiratory tract infection. After 1 dose of mefloquine right sided tinnitus and hearing loss developed; audiometry revealed mixed left sided loss and right sided sensorineural loss (−90 db at 1 kHz; −70 dB at 4 kHz). Prednisone, aspirin and omeprazole were prescribed; mefloquine chemoprophylaxis was discontinued. On day 9 of her hearing loss the tinnitus suddenly disappeared, and right sided hearing improved. Audiometry on day 93 revealed normal right sided hearing (−10 dB at 1 kHz; −10 dB at 4 kHz). Causality remains undetermined, but it may be prudent to avoid mefloquine chemoprophylaxis in individuals with known hearing impairment...
The requirement of CD80, CD86, and ICAM-1 on the ability of adjuvant formulations to potentiate antibody responses to a Plasmodium falciparum blood-stage vaccine [Vaccine, In Press, Uncorrected Proof, Available online 26 October 2007 ] — (English)
Many adjuvants are known to enhance expression of co-stimulatory and adhesion molecules secondarily to the activation of immune cells. Whether interactions via these molecules are obligatory in adjuvants’ ability to potentiation vaccine immunogenicity is less clear. We investigated the ability of eight adjuvant formulations to potentiate the immunogenicity of a malaria vaccine in mice deficient in the prominent co-stimulatory molecules, CD80 and CD86; and the adhesion ligand, ICAM-1. While no adjuvants could bypass co-stimulatory requirements, more formulations exhibited dependency for CD86 than for CD80. In CD80 or CD86 KO mice, formulations with the saponin derivative, QS21 could efficiently default to the other B7 molecule. This effect was dominant over other adjuvant constituents. The requirement for ICAM-1 could be readily bypassed using adjuvant formulations containing immunomodulators; whereas this was not the case with emulsion-type adjuvants in which reduction in adjuvanticity was associated with decreases in antigen-specific IFN-γ responses. These studies may help to guide the formulation of vaccine adjuvants to maintain effectiveness in hosts with altered immunological environment that often result from infections...
Artéméther–luméfantrine, traitement du paludisme simple de l'enfant de plus de cinq ans à l'hôpital de Tsévié (Togo) [Archives de Pédiatrie, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 25 October 2007 ] — (Français)
La chloroquine, remède curatif et prophylactique contre le paludisme, a été abandonnée au Togo du fait des résistances qui dépassaient les 25 % [1]. Le Togo a opté alors pour les combinaisons thérapeutiques à base d'artémisinine (CTA), dont l'association artéméther–luméfantrine (AL), pour le traitement du paludisme simple. C'est une combinaison fixe de comprimés faite de l'association de l'artéméther 20 mg et de la luméfantrine 120 mg. L'association est synergique combinant l'action rapide et puissante de l'artéméther et celle plus lente mais plus durable de la luméfantrine [2]. Ce médicament a été officiellement subventionné et il est disponible dans toutes les formations sanitaires du Togo à partir de janvier 2007...
Argemone mexicana decoction for the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria [Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 24 October 2007 ] — (English)
A prospective, dose-escalating, quasi-experimental clinical trial was conducted with a traditional healer using a decoction of Argemone mexicana for the treatment of malaria in Mali. The remedy was prescribed in three regimens: once daily for 3 days (Group A; n = 23); twice daily for 7 days (Group B; n = 40); and four times daily for the first 4 days followed by twice daily for 3 days (Group C; n = 17). Thus, 80 patients were included, of whom 80% were aged <5 years and 25% were aged <1 year. All presented to the traditional healer with symptoms of malaria and had a Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia >2000/μl but no signs of severe malaria. The proportions of adequate clinical response (ACR) at Day 14 were 35%, 73% and 65% in Groups A, B and C, respectively (P = 0.011). At Day 14, overall proportions of ACR were lower in children aged <1 year (45%) and higher in patients aged >5 years (81%) (P = 0.027). Very few patients had complete parasite clearance, but at Day 14, 67% of patients with ACR had a parasitaemia <2000/μl. No patient needed referral for severe disease. Only minor side effects were observed. Further research should determine whether this local resource could represent a first-aid home treatment in remote areas...
Diagnostic du paludisme d'importation en France [Médecine et Maladies Infectieuses, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 23 October 2007 ] — (English)
Les biologistes français sont souvent confrontés au diagnostic du paludisme d'importation. Les outils diagnostiques pouvant être utilisés au laboratoire, différent par leurs technologies, leurs sensibilités, leurs interprétations et leurs coûts. Leur stratégie d'emploi peut être hiérarchisée en fonction des moyens techniques disponibles, et de l'habitude du biologiste à rechercher le plasmodium...
Chapter Three Insights in the Organization and Dynamics of Erythrocyte Lipid Rafts [Advances in Planar Lipid Bilayers and Liposomes, Volume 6, 2008, Pages 49-80, 259] — (English)
Lipid rafts are domains of a liquid-ordered lipid phase enriched in cholesterol and sphingolipids that are thought to reversibly form within the mainly liquid-disordered lipid phase of biological membranes. Specific types of membrane proteins preferentially partition into lipid rafts and thereby might influence the stability and the size of these lipid domains. Studies on model membranes mimicking the lipid composition of the erythrocyte membrane and analyses of erythrocyte detergent-resistant membranes indicate that lipid domains are present in these cells. The glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins acetylcholinesterase, CD55 and CD59 and the oligomeric proteins stomatin, flotillin-1 and flotillin-2 are the major integral proteins of erythrocyte detergent-resistant membranes. We show that cytoskeletal components like spectrin and actin are tightly linked to detergent-resistant membranes thereby suggesting a role for the cytoskeleton in the regulation of membrane raft domains presumably by influencing their mobility and size. Rafts seem to be involved in the erythrocyte exovesiculation process since detergent-resistant membranes can be isolated from vesicles and specific raft proteins are found to be concentrated at the tips of echinocytic membrane protrusions. The differential enrichment or depletion of raft proteins in vesicles indicates that various types of rafts co-exist at the erythrocyte membrane and segregate during exovesiculation probably due to differences in their specific intrinsic curvatures or in the degree of association with the cytoskeleton. We propose a model of a raft-driven vesiculation mechanism by assuming that raft domains may specifically aggregate in membrane regions that are uncoupled from the underlying cytoskeleton and that this local phase separation leads to the spontaneous formation of a spherical bud to minimize the line tension at the border between the lipid phases. Erythrocytes seem to exploit this behaviour of co-existing lipid phases to prevent complement-mediated cell lysis by releasing vesicles that contain assembled membrane attack complexes. It is also conceivable that the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum uses a similar mechanism for transforming the erythrocyte host membrane into the parasitophorous vacuolar membrane during erythrocyte infection...
Increased circulating interleukin (IL)-23 in children with malarial anemia: In vivo and in vitro relationship with co-regulatory cytokines IL-12 and IL-10 [Clinical Immunology, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 22 October 2007
] — (English)
Severe malarial anemia (SMA) is a leading cause of mortality among children in sub-Saharan Africa. Although the novel cytokine, interleukin (IL)-23, promotes anemia in chronic inflammatory diseases, the role of IL-23 in SMA remains undefined. Since IL-23 and IL-12 share the IL-12p40 subunit and IL-12Rβ1 receptor, and are down-regulated by IL-10, relationships among these cytokines were explored in Kenyan children with varying severities of malarial anemia. Children with malarial anemia had increased circulating IL-23 and IL-10 and decreased IL-12 relative to healthy controls. Enhanced anemia severity and elevated parasitemia were associated with increased IL-10 relative to IL-23 and IL-12. Further exploration of the relationships among the cytokines using an in vitro model in which peripheral blood mononuclear cells were treated with synthetic hemozoin (sHz, malarial pigment) revealed that IL-12p35 and IL-23p19 transcripts had a sustained induction over 72 h, while IL-12p40 and IL-10 message peaked at 24 h, and rapidly declined thereafter. Taken together, results here show that IL-23 is elevated in children with malarial anemia, and that IL-10 and IL-12 appear to have important regulatory effects on IL-23 production during childhood malaria...
Home-based management of fever and malaria treatment practices in Uganda [Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 22 October 2007] — (English)
Summary
The Home-Based Management of Fever/Malaria (HBMF) strategy in rural Uganda was evaluated in a quasi-experimental study. The intervention consisted of volunteers educating mothers and providing a 3-day course of pre-packaged chloroquine plus sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine tablets (HOMAPAK), free of charge, for the treatment of under-five fevers. Using a structured questionnaire, information was obtained on care-seeking and treatment practices before (n = 498) and 18 months after the introduction of HBMF (n = 587). Assessment of the intervention effect indicated 13.5% improvement in the accumulated proportion of patients treated, treated within 24 h of illness onset, treated with the recommended antimalarials, treated at an adequate dosage and (5) treated for the correct duration. Combining this with the antimalarial drug efficacy resulted in a 10.4% improvement in the community effectiveness of malaria treatment. HOMAPAK use was reported in 25% of 156 febrile children; 23% in the most poor compared with 50% in the least poor. Using HOMAPAK instead of other allopathic antimalarials increased the likelihood of completing all steps (odds ratio 37, 95% CI 4.8–286). Similar to other large-scale public health interventions, this study demonstrates modest practice changes at the population level. However, practices improved markedly among HOMAPAK users, suggesting that intensifying implementation efforts to increase HOMAPAK use, especially among the poorest, would be beneficial...
Economic burden of malaria in rural Tanzania: variations by socioeconomic status and season [Tropical Medicine & International Health, Volume 12, Issue 10, Page 1139-1147, Oct 2007] — (English)
Poorer households bear a greater economic burden from malaria relative to their consumption than better-off households. Households are particularly vulnerable to malaria in the rainy season, when malaria prevalence is highest but liquidity is lower. Alternative strategies to assist households to cope with seasonal liquidity issues, including insurance, should be investigated...
Economic costs of epidemic malaria to households in rural Ethiopia [Tropical Medicine & International Health, Volume 12, Issue 10, Page 1148-1156, Oct 2007] — (English)
Malaria poses a significant economic burden on rural households and individuals both through out-of-pocket payment and person-days lost. The promotion and implementation of insecticide-treated nets would alleviate the economic consequences of the disease...
Immune responses after single-dose sulphadoxine–pyrimethamine indicate underestimation of protective efficacy of intermittent preventive treatment in infants [Tropical Medicine & International Health, Volume 12, Issue 10, Page 1157-1163, Oct 2007] — (English)
Placebo-treated children had an indifferentially higher incidence of P. falciparum infections than clinically observed, which implicates an underestimation of the protective efficacy of IPTi. IgG profiles in 17 children followed up until the age of 2 years provided no evidence for impaired immune responses after a single dose of SP within the framework of IPTi...
Therapeutic efficacy of sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine and the prevalence of molecular markers of resistance in under 5-year olds in Brazzaville, Congo [Tropical Medicine & International Health, Volume 12, Issue 10, Page 1164-1171, Oct 2007] — (English)
This high level of treatment failures and mutations in both genes calls for the urgent application of the new policy for malaria treatment to delay the spread of SP resistance...
Viewpoint: A framework for decision-making in integrated vector management to prevent disease [Tropical Medicine & International Health, Volume 12, Issue 10, Page 1230-1238, Oct 2007] — (English)
Integrated vector management (IVM) aims to extend the basis of disease control by involving other sectors and local communities in control action. It is vital that decisions on IVM are made locally for two reasons: first, the epidemiology of disease can vary at a small spatial scale, suggesting the need for precise targeting and second, a number of disease determinants relate to the actions and conditions of local communities, suggesting the need for their increased participation. This requires a shift from centrally managed, sector-specific operations to the facilitation of multi-partner programmes at the district and local level. We propose a methodology for involving local partners outside the health sector in describing and mapping the local determinants and conditions of disease, analysing control options, and consolidating a joint strategy of control. Thus determinants that often lie outside the domain of the health sector are tackled...
Reduced in-hospital mortality after improved management of children under 5 years admitted to hospital with malaria: randomised trial [BMJ 2007;335:862 (27 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.39345.467813.80 (published 22 October 2007)] — (English)
In-hospital mortality was 5% for the intervention group and 10% in the control group (risk ratio 0.48, 95% confidence interval 0.29 to 0.79). The effect may have been stronger in patients with positive malaria slides (0.36, 0.16 to 0.80). Cumulative mortality 4 weeks after discharge was also lower in the intervention group (0.61, 0.40 to 0.95). Supervising healthcare workers to adhere to a standardised treatment protocol was associated with greatly reduced in-hospital mortality. Financial incentives may be important for the dedication and compliance of staff members
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More effort is needed to tackle malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, says Unicef [BMJ 2007;335:848 (27 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.39374.512188.DB ] — (English)
Important advances have been made in recent years to reduce the malaria burden in sub-Saharan Africa through greater use of treated bed nets and better treatment, says a report by Unicef...
Candidate malaria vaccine looks safe and potentially effective [BMJ 2007;335:851 (27 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.335.7625.851 ] — (English)
International efforts to control malaria include developing and testing new vaccines directed against the pre-erythrocytic stage of Plasmodium falciparum. RTS,S/AS02D, a candidate manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, has reached the stage of preliminary testing in humans, and early results look promising. In a small randomised trial, the vaccine did no discernible harm to babies born in Mozambique and induced enough antibodies to give them at least moderate protection from infection during the three months after they completed their immunisations (adjusted vaccine efficacy 65.9%, 95% CI 42.6% to 79.8%)...
Make health inequality history [BMJ 2007;335 (27 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.39377.555324.47 ] — (English)
Three years ago 1 in 8 children with malaria in the national hospital in Guinea-Bissau were dying as inpatients. The introduction of special drug kits for children with severe and complicated malaria had not cut mortality, and it became clear that something else had to be done. So Sidu Biai and colleagues tested in a randomised trial whether strict monitoring of patients, removal of prescription charges for families, and small financial incentives for the staff could reduce mortality on the paediatric ward. It worked. Mortality from malaria on the children's ward, once people's poverty was tackled head on, was just 5% in the intervention group and 10% for controls...
Equitable access to health care [BMJ 2007;335:833-834 (27 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.39371.586076.80 (published 22 October 2007)] — (English)
The first study, by Biai and colleagues, is a randomised controlled trial from Guinea Bissau in West Africa. They show that supervising healthcare workers to adhere to standard treatment protocols reduces mortality in children admitted to hospital with severe malaria.2 This may not seem surprising. What is surprising, though, and of major policy importance, is that a key part of this effective intervention was to provide a small financial incentive to health workers (equivalent to one month's rent)...
Candidate malaria vaccine looks safe and potentially effective [BMJ 2007;335:851 (27 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.335.7625.851 ] — (English)
International efforts to control malaria include developing and testing new vaccines directed against the pre-erythrocytic stage of Plasmodium falciparum. RTS,S/AS02D, a candidate manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, has reached the stage of preliminary testing in humans, and early results look promising. In a small randomised trial, the vaccine did no discernible harm to babies born in Mozambique and induced enough antibodies to give them at least moderate protection from infection during the three months after they completed their immunisations (adjusted vaccine efficacy 65.9%, 95% CI 42.6% to 79.8%)...
Effects of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and insecticide-treated bednets on malaria among HIV-infected Ugandan children [AIDS 2007] — (English)
Studies from Africa have shown that HIV infection is associated with an increased risk of malaria among adults; however, less is known about interactions between malaria and HIV in children, the population at greatest risk of malaria. The authors found that the combined use of Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX) prophylaxis and insecti-cide treated bednets was associated with a dramatic reduction in malaria incidence among HIV-infected children...
Plant based insect repellent and insecticide treated bed nets to protect against malaria in areas of early evening biting vectors [BMJ, doi:10.1136/bmj.39356.574641.55] — (English)
Insect repellents can provide protection against malaria. In areas where vectors feed in the early evening, effectiveness of treated nets can be significantly increased by using repellent between dusk and bedtime. This has important implications in malaria vector control programmes outside Africa and shows that the combined use of treated nets and insect repellents, as advocated for most tourists travelling to high risk areas, is fully justi-fied...
Prepared in cooperation with WHO ANGOLA INFO.
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