Our Mission

We envision a world in which there is free and unrestricted access to information on malaria, independent of geographical locality or socio-economic status. No matter who you are, where you are, or what you do, access to information is the key to knowledge.
 
Knowledge empowers. Empowered people prevent and control malaria better.

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Last week at MalariaWorld...

Last week marked good progress on the buzzer story - with British Airways stopping sales, and publication in Science (vol. 327, p. 1183) and the Financial Times. We were contacted by Daniel Ratheiser, who informed us he saw the same MozStop product for sale on board a Cathay Pacific plane... guess we need to do more work. No word from Singapore Airlines yet...
 
We started a Forum in which you, as a MalariaWorld subscriber, can introduce yourself in a few lines to the other members. We hope you will take this opportunity (please log in to do so).
 
This week's e-interview is with Dr. Raphael N'Guessan, working relentlessly in West Africa to develop solutions to problems related to insecticide resistance. Read his story here.
 
You receive the newsletter on mondays, but we will likely change this soon. If you want it on a specific day of the week, Please use the poll to vote (it will close after next week).
 
Enjoy this week's MalariaWorld and the newsletter - The MW team. 

Open Access | Assessing the future threat from vivax malaria in the United Kingdom using two markedly different modelling approaches

Author(s): 
Steven W Lindsay, David G Hole, Robert A Hutchinson, Shane A Richards, Steven G Willis
Reference: 
Malaria Journal 2010, 9:70 (5 March 2010)
Contact email: 
Steve.Lindsay@lshtm.ac.uk

Although the future climate in the UK is favourable for the transmission of vivax malaria, the future risk of locally transmitted malaria is considered low because of low vector biting rates and the low probability of vectors feeding on a malaria-infected person.

Open Access | Distribution of the main malaria vectors in Kenya

Author(s): 
Robi M Okara, Marianne E Sinka, Noboru Minakawa, Charles M Mbogo, Simon I Hay, Robert W Snow
Reference: 
Malaria Journal 2010, 9:69 (4 March 2010)

The data collated here are published alongside this paper where it may help guide future sampling location decisions, help with the planning of vector control suites nationally and encourage broader research inquiry into vector species niche modelling.

Open Access | Markers of anti-malarial drug resistance in Plasmodium falciparum isolates from Swaziland: identification of pfmdr1-86F in natural parasite isolates

Author(s): 
Sabelo V Dlamini, Khalid Beshir, Colin J Sutherland
Reference: 
Malaria Journal 2010, 9:68 (3 March 2010)
Contact email: 
colin.sutherland@lshtm.ac.uk

Anti-malarial policy changes in neighbouring countries may have had an impact on the prevalence of molecular markers of anti-malarial resistance in Swaziland, and it is hoped that this new information will add to understanding of the regional anti-malarial resistance map.

Molecular basis of odor coding in the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles gambiae

Author(s): 
Guirong Wang, Allison F. Carey, John R. Carlson, and Laurence J. Zwiebel
Reference: 
PNAS March 2, 2010 vol. 107 no. 9 4418-4423
Contact email: 
l.zwiebel@vanderbilt.edu

This study provides a comprehensive overview of olfactory coding mechanisms of An. gambiae that ultimately may aid in fostering the design and development of olfactory-based strategies for reducing the transmission of malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases.

Systematic review: Low-quality evidence that atovaquone-proguanil and doxycycline are better tolerated prophylactic antimalarial regimens in travellers than mefloquine

Author(s): 
Michael Hawkes
Reference: 
Evid. Based Nurs. 2010; 13:19-20
Contact email: 
Michael.hawkes@utoronto.ca

The scope of this review is the prevention of Plasmodium falciparum, which is the malaria species that causes the overwhelming majority of severe disease and death, and which in many areas of the world is frequently resistant to the classical antimalarial agent chloroquine.

Antiplasmodial activity of (I-3,II-3)-biflavonoids and other constituents from Ormocarpum kirkii

Author(s): 
Liene Dhooghe, Sheila Maregesi, Irena Mincheva, Daneel Ferreira, Jannie P.J. Marais, Filip Lemière, An Matheeussen, Paul Cos, Louis Maes, Arnold Vlietinck, Sandra Apers and Luc Pieters
Reference: 
Phytochemistry Article in Press, Corrected Proof
Contact email: 
liene.dhooghe@ua.ac.be

Preliminary screening of a series of medicinal plants, traditionally used in Tanzania, showed an IC50 of 15.6–31.2 μg/ml for the crude extract of the root of Ormocarpum kirkii S. Moore (Papilionaceae) against Plasmodium falciparum. A bioguided isolation was performed in order to isolate the active constituents.

The Puf-family RNA-binding protein PfPuf2 regulates sexual development and sex differentiation in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum

Author(s): 
Jun Miao, Jinfang Li, Qi Fan, Xiaolian Li, Xinyi Li, and Liwang Cui
Reference: 
J. Cell Sci. published 2 March 2010, 10.1242/jcs.059824
Contact email: 
luc2@psu.edu

In this study we determined the function of PfPuf2, a member of the Puf family of translational repressors, in gametocytogenesis of Plasmodium falciparum.

p53 is required for chloroquine-induced atheroprotection but not insulin sensitization

Author(s): 
Babak Razani, Chu Feng and Clay F. Semenkovich
Reference: 
J. Lipid Res., doi:10.1194/jlr.M003681
Contact email: 
csemenko@dom.wustl.edu

ATM, mutated in ataxia telangiectasia, is critical for the genotoxic stress response and its deficiency is associated with accelerated atherosclerosis and insulin resistance in humans and mice. The anti-malarial drug chloroquine activates ATM signaling and improves metabolic phenotypes in mice.

Role of cis-regulatory elements on the ring-specific hrp3 promoter in the human parasite Plasmodium falciparum

Author(s): 
Anusha M. Gopalakrishnan and Carlos López-Estraño
Reference: 
Parasitology Research, Online First
Contact email: 
cestrano@memphis.edu1

Together, our results indicate the presence of multiple mechanisms of gene regulation in the parasite.

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