News (Scientific)

Researchers have found that the dengue fever mosquito common to north and central Queensland poses the greatest danger of spreading the Zika virus in Australia. The researchers showed that not only was the dengue mosquito effective at transmitting Zika, the virus was also in the mosquitoes' reproductive organs. This finding suggests that Zika could persist in mosquito populations by females passing it to their offspring.

The loss of memory and cognitive function known to afflict survivors of septic shock is the result of a sugar that is released into the blood stream and enters the brain during the life-threatening condition.

A new analysis identifies African regions where ivermectin administration to livestock would have the greatest impact on malaria transmission. The results point to West Africa, below the Sahel, where malaria prevalence is very high.

Public health officials could soon be able to detect viruses in mosquitoes in the wild much more quickly and easily -- thanks to the insect equivalent of a urine test. A new study shows that two kinds of commonly used mosquito traps can be readily modified to collect mosquito excreta, or liquid waste droplets, to be tested for signs of viruses.

Mosquito-borne viruses, such as dengue, chikungunya, and Zika, already threaten over a billion people globally. A study predicts that climate change and rising global temperatures will lead to both increased and new exposures to humans of diseases carried by mosquito vectors Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus.

Female mosquitoes are known to rely on an array of sensory information to find people to bite, picking up on carbon dioxide, body odor, heat, moisture, and visual cues. Now researchers have discovered how mosquitoes pick up on acidic volatiles found in human sweat.

Researchers have developed an innovative method for analyzing the genome of the Wolbachia bacterium. This endosymbiotic bacterium infects more than 70 percent of insects and is capable of influencing insect transmission of pathogens such as dengue or Zika virus.

Few novel drugs have been developed to treat neglected diseases in recent decades, Brazilian researchers warn.

Protecting houses against mosquitoes with netting window screens can suppress malaria vector populations and dramatically reduce human parasite infection prevalence, according to new research.

Researchers have identified a possible new therapeutic strategy using two types of drug inhibitors at once to treat one of the world's deadliest cancers.

An interdisciplinary team of scientists has identified a new mobile DNA element in the Wolbachia parasite, which may contribute to improved control strategies for mosquito vectors of diseases such as Dengue and West Nile virus.

An experimental drug, called DSM265, cured seven volunteers of a Plasmodium falciparum infection, a malaria parasite that is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The goal of this research is to find a cure for malaria with a single dose, and ultimately, eradicate the parasite.

By targeting a protein found in the saliva of mosquitoes that transmit Zika virus, investigators reduced Zika infection in mice. The finding demonstrates how researchers might develop a vaccine against Zika and similar mosquito-borne viruses, the study authors said.

Resistance to antimalarial drugs is thought to result mainly from changes in the parasite's genome. However, P. falciparum can also develop resistance to some antimalarial compounds by epigenetic changes, according to a new study. This is of concern because resistance acquired at the epigenetic level can arise quickly, even during the course of a single infection.

Malaria, which claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year -- mainly children and especially in Africa -, is one of the leading causes of death by an infectious agent, the Plasmodium falciparum parasite. In research on malaria, the genetic mutation that causes sickle cell anemia (also known as drepanocytosis), a chronic disease that is often fatal in children under five, caught the attention of the scientific community very early on because it also provides protection against malaria.

Mosquitoes that landed on surfaces coated with the anti-malarial compound atovaquone were completely blocked from developing Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria, according to new research.

The anopheline mosquitoes that carry malaria were present 100 million years ago, new research shows, potentially shedding fresh light on the history of a disease that continues to kill more than 400,000 people annually.

Scientists have developed a novel way with genome sequences to study and better understand transmission, treat and ultimately eradicate Plasmodium vivax, the most widespread form of malaria.

Researchers report that they have identified drugs that can reduce mosquito hunger for blood. Because movement of female mosquitoes from human to human -- male mosquitoes do not consume blood -- is the means by which mosquito-borne infections are passed along, researchers have theorized that reducing the frequency with which female mosquitoes feed is one way to lessen the spread of disease.

An international research has found that malaria parasite genomes are shaped by parasite-specific gene families, and that this genome organization strongly correlates with the parasite's virulence. The findings highlight the importance of spatial genome organization in gene regulation and the control of virulence in malaria parasites.