scholarly journals Control of Malaria by Blocking Transmission of Plasmodium

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Johnson Adejoh ◽  
Maxwell O. Egua ◽  
Michael P. Okoh
Keyword(s):  
Causative Agent ◽  
Leukemia Virus ◽  
Plasmodium Species ◽  
Feline Leukemia Virus ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Complex Life Cycle ◽  
Malaria Burden ◽  
Medicinal Value ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Plasmodium Transmission

Malaria is a major global health problem with the greatest burden in sub-Saharan Africa (sSA). Unfortunately, Nigeria accounts for 25 percent of the world’s malaria burden and it accounts for more deaths than HIV/AIDS. The causative agent of malaria is plasmodium species. This paper reviews the current approaches to inhibiting plasmodium transmission, and the phyto active compound currently in use in the sSA (particularly in Nigeria) with the goal to ameliorate the high incidence of malaria and to correlating it with recent progress and scientific understanding. Using search engines, several databases including Google scholar, Pub Med, Academic Resource Index, Scopus, etcetera, were utilized to source for relevant publications and literatures. The complex life cycle of the Plasmodium species (causative agent of malaria) gives room for measures that can disrupt its completion. Several methods are currently being tested and experimented on to disrupt the parasite transmission. The disruption of a cell surface transport protein, Feline Leukemia Virus subgroup C Receptor (FLVCR) that pumps heme out of the cell; Gene silencing-techniques used to reduce the levels of FLVCR in the mosquito gut; Prevention of the interaction between the plasmodium TRAP and the Anopheles Saglin protein, which aid the malaria parasite invasion of the mosquito salivary gland; Prevention of the Interaction of Surface Enolase and Plasminogen of Mammalian Blood, disrupting an important role in ookinete invasion of the mosquito midgut; the use of Plants with antimicrobial peptides(cyclotide), that possess structural similarities to SM1 peptide, an inhibitor of plasmodium TRAP-saglin binding;and Use of Phyto-Active Compounds to Block Plasmodium Transmission. These approaches are novel methods in the control and transmission of plasmodium species/malaria. Chemically, phytochemicals with structural similarities to artemisinin, (asesquiteterpene lactone containing an unusual peroxide bridge) is thought of to be present in certain plants with antimalarial and other medicinal value.

scholarly journals Is the current decline in malaria burden in sub-Saharan Africa due to a decrease in vector population?

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan W Meyrowitsch ◽  
Erling M Pedersen ◽  
Michael Alifrangis ◽  
Thomas H Scheike ◽  
Mwelecele N Malecela ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Malaria Burden ◽  
Vector Population ◽  
Sub Saharan

scholarly journals All Nets are Equal, But Some Nets are More Equal Than Others

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-4
Author(s):  
Mark Rowland
Keyword(s):  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Health ◽  
Insecticide Treated Nets ◽  
Comparative Performance ◽  
Malaria Burden ◽  
Test Product ◽  
Dramatic Decline ◽  
The World ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Health Organization

Much of the dramatic decline in malaria in sub-Saharan Africa since 2000 is due to the massive investment in long-lasting insecticide treated nets (LLIN). According to the latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO), over half of Africa's population now has access to LLIN, increasing from 33% in 2010 to 57% in 2019 (WHO 2019). In 2018 alone, 197 million LLINs were delivered to Africa by manufacturers. Despite this, LLIN coverage has improved only marginally since 2015. The malaria burden worldwide has fallen only slightly from an estimated 231 million cases of malaria in 2017 to 228 million in 2018, and is at a standstill in Africa. WHO policy is to assess candidate 2nd-in-class products for entomological efficacy only. Due to the significant variation in the specifications of the candidates, to generate the required assurance of comparative performance to 1st in class, WHO has designed a non-inferiority trial design to demonstrate whether each candidate 2nd-in-class test product is no worse in experimental hut trials.

scholarly journals Public health-relevant consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on malaria in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna-Katharina Heuschen ◽  
Guangyu Lu ◽  
Oliver Razum ◽  
Alhassan Abdul-Mumin ◽  
Osman Sankoh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Malaria Prevention ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Clinical Aspects ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Malaria Burden ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented challenges to health systems worldwide, including the control of non-COVID-19 diseases. Malaria cases and deaths may increase due to the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic in malaria-endemic countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This scoping review aims to summarize information on public health-relevant effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the malaria situation in SSA. Methods Review of publications and manuscripts on preprint servers, in peer-reviewed journals and in grey literature documents from 1 December, 2019 to 9 June, 2021. A structured search was conducted on different databases using predefined eligibility criteria for the selection of articles. Results A total of 51 papers have been included in the analysis. Modelling papers have predicted a significant increase in malaria cases and malaria deaths in SSA due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many papers provided potential explanations for expected COVID-19 effects on the malaria burden; these ranged from relevant diagnostical and clinical aspects to reduced access to health care services, impaired availability of curative and preventive commodities and medications, and effects on malaria prevention campaigns. Compared to previous years, fewer country reports provided data on the actual number of malaria cases and deaths in 2020, with mixed results. While highly endemic countries reported evidence of decreased malaria cases in health facilities, low endemic countries reported overall higher numbers of malaria cases and deaths in 2020. Conclusions The findings from this review provide evidence for a significant but diverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on malaria in SSA. There is the need to further investigate the public health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the malaria burden. Protocol registered on Open Science Framework: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/STQ9D

scholarly journals BCG vaccination is associated with reduced malaria prevalence in children under the age of 5 years in sub-Saharan Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. e001862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike LT Berendsen ◽  
Sjors WL van Gijzel ◽  
Jeroen Smits ◽  
Quirijn de Mast ◽  
Peter Aaby ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Malaria Prevalence ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Cluster Sampling ◽  
Bcg Vaccination ◽  
Malaria Burden ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Ssa Countries ◽  
Transmission Reservoir

IntroductionMalaria continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) without effective interventions. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine possesses protective non-specific effects, which extend beyond protection against tuberculosis. This study explores whether BCG is associated with protection against malaria in children under the age of 5 years in SSA.MethodsWe used data from the Demographic Health Survey programme, including 34 206 children from 13 SSA countries. BCG status was taken from vaccination cards when present; if not, mother’s recall was used. Presence of malaria was defined as a positive rapid diagnostic test. Maternally reported presence or absence of fever in the previous 2 weeks defined symptomatic status. Multilevel logistic regression was used to account for the two-stage cluster sampling method.ResultsOf the 34 206 children, 12 325 (36.0%) children were malaria positive and 29 766 (87.0%) were BCG vaccinated. After correction for relevant child, maternal and household factors, BCG vaccination was associated with a lower malaria prevalence (adjusted OR (aOR)=0.94, 95% CI 0.90 to 0.98), especially among children of whom BCG information was retrieved from a vaccination card (aORcard=0.88, 95% CI 0.82 to 0.94). Restricting the analysis to children from regions with suboptimal BCG coverage increased the association (aORcard=0.81, 95% CI 0.73 to 0.89). We observed an increasingly beneficial association with each month of age of the child (aORcard=0.996, 95% CI 0.993 to 0.999). BCG associations were similar for asymptomatic (aORcard=0.86, 95% CI 0.81 to 0.92) and symptomatic (aORcard=0.89, 95% CI 0.78 to 1.01) malaria.ConclusionsBCG vaccination is associated with protection against malaria. This protection is highest in regions with suboptimal BCG coverage. These results indicate a possible role for timely BCG vaccination in the protection of malaria and its elimination by reducing the transmission reservoir. If confirmed in further research, our findings have substantial implications for global efforts to reduce malaria burden.

Justifying an Intentional Species Extinction: The Case of Anopheles gambiae

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Edward Callies ◽  
Yasha Rohwer
Keyword(s):  
Anopheles Gambiae ◽  
Malaria Vector ◽  
Malaria Parasite ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Species Extinction ◽  
Malaria Burden ◽  
Subjective Value ◽  
The World ◽  
Genetic Technologies ◽  
Sub Saharan

Each year, over 200 million people are infected with the malaria parasite, nearly half a million of whom succumb to the disease. Emerging genetic technologies could, in theory, eliminate the burden of malaria throughout the world by intentionally eradicating the mosquitoes that transmit the disease. In this paper, we offer an ethical examination of the intentional eradication of Anopheles gambiae, the main malaria vector of sub-Saharan Africa. In our evaluation, we focus on two main considerations: the benefit of alleviating the malaria burden, and the loss of value that would accompany the eradication of the species. We outline a typology of the different ways in which species are valued or could be valuable, then use that typology to appraise the value of the species in question. We argue that Anopheles gambiae has minor (and redundant) instrumental value, little final subjective value and no objective final value.

scholarly journals Relationship between changing malaria burden and low birth weight in sub-Saharan Africa: A difference-in-differences study via a pair-of-pairs approach

eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siyu Heng ◽  
Wendy P O'Meara ◽  
Ryan A Simmons ◽  
Dylan S Small
Keyword(s):  
Birth Weight ◽  
Low Birth Weight ◽  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Malaria Prevalence ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Health ◽  
Difference In Differences ◽  
Malaria Burden ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Sub Saharan

Background:According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2018, an estimated 228 million malaria cases occurred worldwide with most cases occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. Scale-up of vector control tools coupled with increased access to diagnosis and effective treatment has resulted in a large decline in malaria prevalence in some areas, but other areas have seen little change. Although interventional studies demonstrate that preventing malaria during pregnancy can reduce the rate of low birth weight (i.e. child’s birth weight <2500 g), it remains unknown whether natural changes in parasite transmission and malaria burden can improve birth outcomes.Methods:We conducted an observational study of the effect of changing malaria burden on low birth weight using data from 18,112 births in 19 countries in sub-Saharan African countries during the years 2000–2015. Specifically, we conducted a difference-in-differences study via a pair-of-pairs matching approach using the fact that some sub-Saharan areas experienced sharp drops in malaria prevalence and some experienced little change.Results:A malaria prevalence decline from a high rate (Plasmodium falciparum parasite rate in children aged 2-up-to-10 (i.e. PfPR2-10) > 0.4) to a low rate (PfPR2-10 < 0.2) is estimated to reduce the rate of low birth weight by 1.48 percentage points (95% confidence interval: 3.70 percentage points reduction, 0.74 percentage points increase), which is a 17% reduction in the low birth weight rate compared to the average (8.6%) in our study population with observed birth weight records (1.48/8.6 ≈ 17%). When focusing on first pregnancies, a decline in malaria prevalence from high to low is estimated to have a greater impact on the low birth weight rate than for all births: 3.73 percentage points (95% confidence interval: 9.11 percentage points reduction, 1.64 percentage points increase).Conclusions:Although the confidence intervals cannot rule out the possibility of no effect at the 95% confidence level, the concurrence between our primary analysis, secondary analyses, and sensitivity analyses, and the magnitude of the effect size, contribute to the weight of the evidence suggesting that declining malaria burden can potentially substantially reduce the low birth weight rate at the community level in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly among firstborns. The novel statistical methodology developed in this article–a pair-of-pairs approach to a difference-in-differences study–could be useful for many settings in which different units are observed at different times.Funding:Ryan A. Simmons is supported by National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1TR002553). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

scholarly journals Public health relevant consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on malaria in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna-Katharina Heuschen ◽  
Guangyu Lu ◽  
Oliver Razum ◽  
Alhassan Abdul-Mumin ◽  
Osman Sankoh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Malaria Prevention ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Clinical Aspects ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Malaria Burden ◽  
Sub Saharan

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented challenges to health systems worldwide, including the control of non-COVID-19 diseases. Malaria cases and deaths may increase due to the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic in malaria endemic countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Objectives: This scoping review aims to summarize information on public health relevant effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the malaria situation in SSA. Methods: Review of publications and manuscripts on preprint servers, in peer-reviewed journals and in grey literature documents from December 1, 2019, to June 9, 2021. A structured search was conducted on different databases using predefined eligibility criteria for the selection of articles. Results: A total of 51 papers have been included in the analysis. Modeling papers have predicted a significant increase in malaria cases and malaria deaths in SSA due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many papers provided potential explanations for expected COVID-19 effects on the malaria burden; these ranged from relevant diagnostic and clinical aspects, to reduced access to health care services, impaired availability of curative and preventive commodities and medications, and effects on malaria prevention campaigns. Compared to previous years, fewer country reports provided data on the actual number of malaria cases and deaths in 2020, with mixed results. While highly endemic countries reported evidence of decreased malaria cases in health facilities, low endemic countries reported an overall higher numbers of malaria cases and deaths in 2020. Conclusions: The findings from this review provide evidence for a significant but diverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on malaria in SSA. There is the need to further investigate the public health consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on the malaria burden.

scholarly journals Impact of eliminating malaria by 2040 on poverty rates among agricultural households in Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek W. Willis ◽  
Nick Hamon
Keyword(s):  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Malaria Burden ◽  
Modeling Analysis ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Agricultural Households ◽  
The Status ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Number Of Individuals

Background: Reaching the goal of eradicating malaria by 2040, if achieved, would have a profound effect on farmers’ lives in sub-Saharan Africa. Our objective is to examine how achieving that goal would affect poverty rates of agricultural households. Methods: We analyzed the potential impact of eliminating malaria by 2040 on poverty rates among agricultural households in malarious regions of sub-Saharan Africa. Our model used ten scenarios to examine how the impact of eliminating malaria by 2040 on households’ income would affect the number of individuals living on less than $1.90 (2011 PPP) per day.  Results: We analyzed ten scenarios for malaria’s impact on agricultural household income from 2018 to 2040 for the approximately 324 million individuals in agricultural households in malarious regions of sub-Saharan Africa in 2018. We found that approximately 53 million to 123 million individuals would escape poverty by 2040 if malaria were eliminated by that year. If the malaria burden in agricultural households remained at its current level through 2040, only 40 million individuals would escape poverty by 2040, a decrease of only 24%. Therefore, the impact of eliminating malaria by 2040, relative to the status quo scenario through 2040, is that approximately 13 million to 84 million individuals in agricultural households will escape poverty.  Conclusions: The modeling analysis presented here is meant to be a starting point for additional research into the potential impact of eliminating malaria on the incomes of agricultural households in sub-Saharan Africa. This study could be strengthened with the application of new methods to examine malaria’s impact on the welfare of agricultural households. We recommend the collection and analysis of longitudinal data from agricultural households in future studies of malaria’s impact on these households.

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