Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0024530 (malaria)
 44,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

High population growth rates have been considered a major problem in the Kivu region of Zaire and a key issue for the future development of the rural areas situated near Kivu lake. Overpopulation and the resulting land shortage were held responsible for the disastrous nutritional situation and the population explosion was said to limit the impact of health care activities. A paucity of recent demographic data for the region, however, has made it difficult to assess whether these claims are valid. The authors report findings from population studies conducted in the margin of a community-based malaria control program in the Katana Health zone in the eastern part of Zaire. Findings are based upon the prospective registration of vital events from March 1986 through February 1987. 5497 households were counted and 28,083 people were covered at midterm. 19.9% of the population was younger than 5 years old, 47.3% under age 15, and 3.7% above age 64. Women aged 15-49 comprised 21.5% of the total population. The mean age at marriage was 21.2 years for women and 25.6 for men, with more than 40% of the elder men having more than one wife. 89% of the women had not completed one year of formal education. The crude fertility rate was 250% with total fertility at 8.3 children per woman. The rate of infant mortality was 130%, the child mortality quotient was 183%, the crude death rate was 23 per 1000, and the rate of natural population growth was 31%. The net out-migration rate of 28% toward less populated rural or urban areas, however, kept the zone's population size almost stable. Increasing demographic pressure can therefore probably not be held responsible for the region's economic stagnation. Dependence upon customary authorities, the land tenure system, and the quasi-feudal organization of agricultural production and crop commercialization seem to offer more plausible explanations.
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PMID:Demographic findings relevant for health care planning and evaluation collected through a malaria control project in the Kivu Mountains, Zaire. 136 83

Plasmodium vivax apical membrane antigen-1(PvAMA-1) is a surface protein with polymorphic sites. This study was aimed to analyze the polymorphic amino acid residues at PvAMA-1 in different infected age groups. 92 blood samples were collected from the south and southeast of Iran. The DNA coding for the domain I (DI), DII, and partial DIII of this antigen was amplified by Nested-PCR, and sequenced. Nucleotide mutations were found in 49 sites and based on the amino acid sequence, 30 variable sites were detected. Age distribution of malaria cases showed that the majority of the patients were between 10 to 30 years old. The scattering plot haplotypes by age showed an increasing incidence rate with age during childhood, whereas, incidence was the lowest in patients under five years old. Comparison of the polymorphic sites of PvAMA-1 in Iranian isolates with those found in other geographic regions of the world indicated nine common variable positions. In addition, a significant dependence was found between some particular substitutions and age categories. Dependence between particular substitutions and age groups suggests that certain residues in AMA-1 are responsible for clinical attacks in different ages, likely as a result of host immune pressure. The crystal structure of the PvAMA-1 showed that the amino acid substitutions that changed the protein charge were exclusively located in loops and turns where, the interactions with antibodies could occur. These data provide the necessary information for an AMA-1 based malaria vaccine design to be effective across all ages.
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PMID:Analysis of Plasmodium vivax Apical Membrane Antigen-1 (PvAMA-1) Haplotypes among Iranian Isolates. 2998 91