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Query: UMLS:C0024530 (malaria)
 44,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Malaria has long constituted a major public health problem for French Guyana, limiting its demographic and economic development. From 1949 to 1960, due to chemoprophylaxis and DDT spraying in houses, the number of malaria cases decreased markedly. After 1975, important migratory movements contributed to increasing the incidence of malaria. In 1989, numerous cases were observed when some 500 immigrants settled in a formerly uninhabited area, known as Cabassou BP 134. It is located 7 km (S-E) from the main city of Cayenne and bordered by secondary forest and swamps. The entomological study initiated in 1990 included weekly biting-landing catches (3 hours) on human bait in houses from dusk onwards as well as locating breeding places around the settlement to collect larvae by dipping. Anopheles specimens were identified and the females dissected to detect infections by Plasmodium and also to determine the rate of parous specimens. Control measures included deltamethrin (15 mg/m2) and DDT (2 g/m2) spraying, every four months, of interior walls and thermal fogging of naled around the houses. Cold ULV aerosol of fenitrothion (500 ml/ha) was also used to treat the swamp borders. In April 1990, a health education programme was begun and in June, 288 impregnated bednets (deltamethrin 15 mg/m2) were treated. From 1990 to 1998, 1,588 (498 larvae + 1090 adults) Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) were collected: An. aquasalis 797 (311 L + 486 A). An. braziliensis 139 (87 L + 52 A). An. darlingi 652 (100 L + 552 A). No infected female was found among the 710 dissected. The number of malaria cases decreased abruptly in the fall of 1990 when An. darlingi disappeared and only one case due to P. vivax was detected between 1995 and 1998. An. darlingi (parous rate = 72%) appears to be the main if not the sole vector of malaria in this locality. As in the past, a focus of malaria appears when immigrants from endemic countries settle in a formerly uninhabited place where An. darlingi are breeding.
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PMID:[Malarial vectors in French Guiana: study in an epidemic focus near Cayenne (1989-1998)]. 1184 34

Colombian professor Manuel Patarroyo developed a new malaria vaccine (SPF66). In February 1995, WHO and the Colombian government agreed to establish a manufacturing plant in Colombia for mass production of SPF66. This vaccine is likely to be available to persons in Africa, where 90% of all annual global cases live. In fact, Africa witnesses one million of 1.5 million annual malaria cases. Many children die from malaria. An extensive clinical trial of the SPF66 vaccine in Colombia achieved a 22-77% protection rate. The young and the very old had the high protection rates. A series of human clinical trials in the Gambia and Tanzania indicate that SPF66 produces a strong immune response against malaria without any harmful side effects. The results of field tests in the Gambia and Thailand and of trials in Colombia are expected in 1995. If the vaccine could reduce the incidence of malaria by just 50%, the lives of as many as 500,000 African children could be saved. SPF66 contains a combination of synthetic peptides (=or 2 amino acids). Mass production would make it affordable (estimated $5/injection). At least five other malaria vaccines hold promise and are ready for human testing in endemic countries. SPF66 is approximately three years ahead of all other promising malaria vaccines. 20 more vaccines are in the development stage. The large scale production of SPF66 in Colombia could begin within three years. Professor Patarroyo has financed his 12-year-old research himself because he wants to protect the lives of persons in developing countries. In 1992, the Congo's president petitioned the international community at the WHO summit in Amsterdam to join the fight against malaria since it is now in a position to defeat malaria since it finished the cold war.
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PMID:Malaria vaccine offers hope. International / Africa. 1228 59

One-third of the world's population is infected with the tuberculosis (TB) bacillus. Like the common cold, TB is spread through the air and by relatively casual contact. Migration, international travel, and tourism are therefore increasingly allowing TB to penetrate borders. An untreated person with active TB will typically infect 10-15 other people over the course of one year. Only 5-10% of people infected with TB, however, actually become sick or infectious themselves. Nonetheless, among infectious diseases, TB is the leading killer of adults in the world today, currently killing more adults annually than AIDS, malaria, and tropical diseases combined, and almost 300,000 children. The disease accounts for more than 25% of all preventable adult deaths in developing countries. An estimated 300 million people will be infected during the next decade, 90 million people will develop the disease, and 30 million people will die from it. The global resurgence of TB is being accelerated by the spread of HIV, with TB already the leading cause of death among HIV-seropositive individuals. TB, together with AIDS, has overwhelmed health services and devastated urban populations in parts of Africa. The emergence of drug-resistant strains of TB is of particular concern to the World Health Organization (WHO), surely a factor in WHO's April 1993 declaration of TB to be a global emergency, the first declaration of its kind in WHO history. There is no cure for some multidrug-resistant strains of TB, and there is concern that they may spread rapidly around the world. Curing TB cases is the most cost-effective way to check the spread of TB in communities with high incidence of the infection, and the best curative method for TB is the Directly Observed Treatment approach in which health workers watch patients take each dose of medication throughout the full course of the treatment regimen.
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PMID:Tuberculosis epidemic poses international threat. World Health Organization. 1229 Jun 13

Mice infected with the NYU-2 strain of Plasmodium berghei were used to study the effect of chloroquine on masking of a lipid that promotes ferriprotoporphyrin IX dimerization. More than 40% of this lipid was masked and unable to promote dimerization in membrane ghosts from erythrocytes of untreated, infected mice. Thus, preparations of membrane ghosts dimerized 57 +/- 6 nmol of ferriprotoporphyrin IX during a 2-h incubation, whereas the lipids extracted from these preparations dimerized 101 +/- 11 nmol of ferriprotoporphyrin IX (means +/- S.D. for four experiments). Exposure of membrane ghosts to sonication or cold significantly increased the extent of masking. In addition, chloroquine treatment of infected mice increased the extent of masking to approximately 90%. The lipid could be unmasked by extracting it into acetone or by aging erythrocyte membrane ghosts from untreated or chloroquine-treated, infected mice for 24 h at pH 7.4 and 25 degrees C. These findings indicate that masking and unmasking of a lipid is central to the regulation of ferriprotoporphyrin IX dimerization in malaria parasites. They also indicate that chloroquine impairs the function of this regulatory process.
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PMID:Chloroquine-induced masking of a lipid that promotes ferriprotoporphyrin IX dimerization in malaria. 1269 66

This study describes some clinical and epidemiological features of childhood malaria in a moderately endemic area of southern Sri Lanka. Six hundred and sixty-two children, who experienced 1,138 attacks of malaria, and 172 children, who experienced 202 attacks of acute non-malarial fever, were followed over a period of two years. Of the 1,138 malaria infections followed, 776 were due to P. vivax, 359 were due to P. falciparum, and 3 were mixed infections. The majority of children presented within the first three days of the onset of symptoms. Headache (96%), feeling cold (81%) and arthralgia (77%) were the commonest presenting symptoms. Two hundred and sixty-four children experienced more than one attack of malaria. The clinical and epidemiological features of childhood malaria that have important implications for the planning and targeting of preventive measures are discussed.
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PMID:The clinical and epidemiological features of childhood malaria in a moderately endemic area of Sri Lanka. 1275 7

We immunized mice with an attenuated (cold-adapted) influenza virus followed by an attenuated vaccinia virus (modified vaccinia virus Ankara), both expressing a CD8(+)-T-cell epitope derived from malaria sporozoites. This vaccination regimen elicited high levels of protection against malaria. This is the first time that the vaccine efficacy of a recombinant cold-adapted influenza virus vector expressing a foreign antigen has been evaluated.
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PMID:Induction of protective immunity against malaria by priming-boosting immunization with recombinant cold-adapted influenza and modified vaccinia Ankara viruses expressing a CD8+-T-cell epitope derived from the circumsporozoite protein of Plasmodium yoelii. 1455 72

There is a consensus that malaria is a growing problem in African highlands. This is surprising because many parts of the highlands were considered too cold to support transmission. In this report, we examined how transmission of Plasmodium falciparum in six villages changed along an altitude transect in the Usambara Mountains, Tanzania, from 300 m to 1700 m. Routine entomological collections were made using spray catches and light traps for 15 mo. Direct estimates of entomological inoculation rates and indirect estimates of vectorial capacity suggested a >1000-fold reduction in transmission intensity between the holoendemic lowland and the hypoendemic highland plateau. Lowland transmission was perennial with a significant peak in the cool season after the long rains in May, when vectors densities were high. In the highlands, low temperatures prevented parasite development in mosquitoes during the cool season rains, and highland transmission was therefore limited to the warm dry season when vector densities were low. The primary effect of increasing altitude was a log-linear reduction in vector abundance and, to a lesser extent, a reduction in the proportion of infective mosquitoes. Highland malaria transmission was maintained at extraordinarily low vector densities. We discuss herein the implications of these findings for modeling malaria and suggest that process-based models of malaria transmission risk should be improved by considering the direct effect of temperature on vector densities. Our findings suggest that variation in the short rains in November and changes in agricultural practices are likely to be important generators of epidemics in the Usambaras.
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PMID:Relationship between altitude and intensity of malaria transmission in the Usambara Mountains, Tanzania. 1459 87

Despite treatment, cerebral malaria still has a high mortality. This study describes the clinical features, immediate outcome and prognostic factors for childhood cerebral malaria in Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda. One hundred children who met the WHO criteria for cerebral malaria were prospectively recruited and followed up until discharge or death. Mortality was 7% and neurological sequelae occurred in 5% of survivors. Independent predictors of mortality were respiratory distress [adjusted OR 1.2 (95% CI 1.1-1.3)], circulatory failure [adjusted OR 2.1 (95% CI 1.8-2.4)], generalised hyporeflexia [adjusted OR 1.2 (95% CI 1.1-1.3)] and parasite density > or =500,000/microl [adjusted OR 1.02 (95% CI 1.01-1.2)]. Circulatory failure could be predicted by a combination of hypothermia, cold peripheries and dehydration. Death occurred within 12 hours of admission only in children with these predictors, and the risk of death increased with the number of risk factors. Multiple convulsions at admission predicted neurological sequelae [adjusted OR 12.8, 95% CI 3.0-211, p=0.014)]. Cerebral malaria mortality is predictable. Patients with respiratory distress, circulatory failure, generalised hyporeflexia and parasite density > or =500,000/microl need urgent treatment to prevent death. In primary health units, health workers may use a combination of cold peripheries, hypothermia and dehydration to predict circulatory failure.
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PMID:Immediate outcome and prognostic factors for cerebral malaria among children admitted to Mulago Hospital, Uganda. 1500 62

Zinc is an essential micronutrient for human growth, development, and immune function. Zinc deficiency impairs overall immune function and resistance to infection. Mild to moderate zinc deficiency can be best detected through a positive response to supplementation trials. Zinc supplementation has been shown to have a positive effect on the incidence of diarrhea (18% reduction, 95% CI: 7-28%) and pneumonia (41% reduction, 95% CI: 17-59%), and might lead to a decrease in the incidence of malaria. Zinc has also proven to decrease the duration of diarrhea by 15% (95% CI: 5-24%). Maternal zinc supplementation may lead to a decrease in infant infections. Studies assessing the role of zinc supplementation among persons with HIV, tuberculosis, and the common cold have not been conclusive. Two studies have shown zinc supplementation to decrease child mortality by more than 50%. Zinc clearly has an important role in infant and childhood infectious diseases; programs to increase the intake of zinc among deficient populations are needed.
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PMID:Zinc and the risk for infectious disease. 1518 21

The propensity of the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles gambiae Giles (Diptera: Culicidae) to ingest sugars from various plants, and subsequent survival rates, were assessed with laboratory-reared males and females offered eight species of plants commonly cultivated and/or growing wild in western Kenya. In cages (no-choice bioassay), mosquitoes given the opportunity to feed on castorbean (Ricinus communis L.) had the longest survival times (mean and median survival time of 6.99 +/- 0.23 and 5.67 +/- 0.17 days, respectively), comparable to mosquitoes given 6% glucose (mean and median survival time of 8.70 +/- 0.23 and 6.67 +/- 0.33 days, respectively). Survival rates of An. gambiae were low on the other plants, comparable to mosquitoes given only water. Three plants: sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.), wild sage (Lantana camara L.) and castorbean provided levels of sugar ingestion by both sexes of An. gambiae detectable using the cold anthrone method, showing a positive correlation between median survival and sugar consumption (Spearman rank correlation coefficient = 0.905, P < 0.0001). Equal numbers of males and females were released in an enclosed semi-field screenhouse system containing a range of local plants, but no host for blood, and allowed to feed ad libitum: 6.7 +/- 0.5% (11/64) of those recaptured were found to contain detectable fructose (all females). Common plants are clearly a viable source of nutrition for adult female An. gambiae, as well as males, and may constitute and important resource for this important malaria vector.
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PMID:Feeding and survival of the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae on plants growing in Kenya. 1518 35


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