New Drugs, Better Care Can Beat Malaria

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The toll could be reduced by obtaining quick travel history after diagnosis, being sure to include malaria as a possible cause of illness, and quick treatment, the report's authors said.

The fight against malaria "has been with mankind forever," added George Dimopoulos, an assistant professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Malaria Research Unit.

It is a complex disease, Dimopoulos explained. "The parasite has genetic flexibility that allows it to develop resistance to medication rapidly," he said. "It can also evade the human immune system."

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Traditionally, malaria has been a disease of poverty. It was conquered in the United States as living conditions improved.

Research at institutions such as Johns Hopkins looks into every aspect of the malaria parasite's life cycle, including its relationship with the mosquito, Dimopoulos said. "We still don't know everything about its biology," he said.

Tellingly, malaria has never been eradicated from a region unless mosquitoes are first conquered, Dimopoulos said. "But, we need a combined and coordinated effort with multiple approaches," before that battle is won, he said.

More information

Learn all about malaria from the World Health Organization.

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