Africa Wild

Lots of malaria still around...beware!!

Jean-Jacques Cornish | 23 minutes ago

PRETORIA - Scientists have developed a breathalyser test for malaria.

It’s an advancement that could fast-track efforts to eliminate the disease.

Missouri biologists have road-tested a technique that senses the malaria parasite in samples of ­infected people’s breath.

The ­results, outlined at a conference in Baltimore, are built on an Australian discovery that malaria sufferers exhale high levels of certain chemicals.

The test could accelerate ­diagnosis because the chemicals spike at very early stages of infection when other techniques can fail to detect the parasite.

The new approach also offers a cheap alternative to lab-based DNA or blood analyses and finger-prick tests which can ­diagnose malaria in the field, but lack sensitivity and are losing reliability as the parasites mutate.


http://ewn.co.za/2017/11/07/there-s-now ... or-malaria

Richprins wrote:Jean-Jacques Cornish | 23 minutes ago

PRETORIA - Scientists have developed a breathalyser test for malaria.

It’s an advancement that could fast-track efforts to eliminate the disease.

http://ewn.co.za/2017/11/07/there-s-now ... or-malaria

Hmmmm... in the old days , colonials used to drink Gin and Tonic against Malaria , but that was l--o--n--g , long before breathalysers were developed ....urp .. hic ...

Maybe not the bestest remedy for kids

Gia Nicolaides | about 2 hours ago

JOHANNESBURG - The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has issued a malaria alert for the Easter weekend, saying the number of cases is expected to rise due to South Africans travelling during this time.

It’s currently malaria season and due to the recent widespread rainfall across the country, there’s an increased risk of contracting the disease.

Travellers to high transmission areas, as well as neighbouring countries, have been advised to take the necessary precautions against being bitten by mosquitoes.

The NICD’s professor Lucille Blumberg said: “People planning to visit Limpopo, Mpumalanga, including Kruger National Park, and very far north in KwaZulu-Natal should be aware that these are some of the malaria risk areas. A particular risk exists in Mozambique.”

(Edited by Zamangwane Shange)

http://ewn.co.za/2018/03/27/nicd-issues ... er-weekend

For members in the UK....

I have recently discovered that certain pharmacies (Boots etc) have a walk in travel clinic and will dispense anti-malerial medication without needing a dr prescription. Over the counter. It's the generic Malerone.
Apparently all that is required is to complete a questionnaire.

Good to know for my up coming trip in September
Prior to this I found it easier to get my meds in SA.
I once tried a travel clinic and they wanted to give me all sorts of vaccinations. I politely declined saying I just wanted the Malaria meds, but they refused. It was all or nothing
This makes things a lot easier.

From what I have heard "Novartis" (Healthcare Company) are developing next generation antimalarials. It will probably still take a few years though.
A vaccination would be so much easier....and cheaper

This may be the future one day? Not the malaria mosquito YET.



Sterilised mosquito trial slashes dengue-spreading population
More than 80 percent of a dengue fever-spreading mosquito has been wiped out in an Australian town during a landmark trial scientists said Tuesday offered hope for combating the dangerous pest globally.

Sydney (AFP) | 10 July 2018 2:53

Researchers from Australia’s national science body CSIRO bred millions of non-biting male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in laboratory conditions at James Cook University (JCU) in a project funded by Google parent company Alphabet.

The insects were infected with the Wolbachia bacteria, which renders them sterile.

They were then released into the wild at trial sites around the Queensland town of Innisfail where over three months they mated with females who laid eggs that did not hatch, causing the population to plummet.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is one of the world’s most dangerous pests, capable of spreading devastating diseases like dengue, Zika and chikungunya.

It is responsible for infecting millions of people around the world each year and JCU’s Kyran Staunton said the successful trial was a major step forward.

“We learnt a lot from collaborating on this first tropical trial and we’re excited to see how this approach might be applied in other regions where Aedes aegypti poses a threat to life and health,” he said.

The so-called sterile insect technique has been used before but the challenge in making it work for mosquitoes was being able to rear enough of them, identify males, remove biting females, and then release them in large enough numbers to suppress a population.

To address the challenge, Verily — a life sciences company funded by Alphabet — has developed a mosquito rearing, sex sorting and release technology as part of its global Debug project.

“We’re very pleased to see strong suppression of these dangerous biting female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes,” Verily’s Nigel Snoad said.

“We came to Innisfail with CSIRO and JCU to see how this approach worked in a tropical environment where these mosquitoes thrive, and to learn what it was like to operate our technology with research collaborators as we work together to find new ways to tackle these dangerous mosquitoes.”

© 2018 AFP

https://lowvelder.co.za/afp/445939/ster ... population

Interesting. There was something similar on Carte Blanche about changing the DNA of female mozzies to make them sterile. But as always, who knows what other changes this could cause in an ecosystem?