Glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) is an essential enzyme that protects red blood cells from oxidative damage. Although G6PD‐deficient alleles appear to confer a protective effect of malaria, the link with clinical protection against Plasmodium infection is conflicting.
In low- and middle-income countries, infectious diseases remain a key public health issue. Additionally, non-communicable diseases are a rapidly growing public health problem that impose a considerable burden on population health. One way to address this dual disease burden, is to incorporate (lifestyle) health promotion measures within the education sector. In the planned study, we will (i) assess and compare physical activity, physical fitness, micronutrient status, body composition, infections with soil-transmitted helminths, Schistosoma mansoni, malaria, inflammatory and cardiovascular health risk markers, cognitive function, health-related quality of life, and sleep in schoolchildren in Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa and Tanzania. We will (ii) determine the bi- and multivariate associations between these variables and (iii) examine the effects of a school-based health intervention that consists of physical activity, multi-micronutrient supplementation, or both.
In Benin, malaria vector control mostly relies on long-lasting, insecticidal-treated bed nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) operations. From 2011 to 2016, an IRS programme has been implemented in Atacora region. However, in 2017 the programme was withdrawn from two other regions in the northern part of the country, with hopes that gains would be relatively sustained because of the seasonality of malaria transmission. What would be the vulnerability of populations to malaria after the withdrawal of IRS?
In large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the start of the seasonal rains means that within weeks, hospitals will witness a sharp upsurge in admissions to their pediatric wards. Many children who are admitted will be suffering from life-threatening complications of Plasmodium falciparum malaria, such as coma and convulsions (cerebral malaria), severe anemia (requiring urgent lifesaving transfusion), and rapid breathing (due to severe metabolic acidosis).
Recent publications and statements have drawn attention to a sustainable system of managing malaria control interventions globally but especially on the Continent of Africa. Arbitrary and unstable governments often interfere with health programmes, causing upsurges in malaria transmission as well as other health issues. A well-run health infrastructure will deal with public health as a whole.
Resistance in Anopheles gambiae to members of all 4 major classes (pyrethroids, carbamates, organochlorines, and organophosphates) of public health insecticides limits effective control of malaria transmission in Africa. Increase in expression of detoxifying enzymes has been associated with insecticide resistance, but their direct functional validation in An. gambiae is still lacking.
Science, Nov. 26, 2019: by Jop de Vrieze
MALAWI—In a small room at the Phalula Health Centre in southern Malawi's Balaka district, two young mothers are sitting on a wooden bench, each with a 5-month-old baby on their lap. Across from them, behind a desk, sits Alfred Kaponya, a community health worker. A colleague is busy preparing a vaccine, tapping the syringe to dislodge bubbles. Kaponya explains the procedure to the women, writes down the vaccines' serial numbers in the children's vaccination booklets, and copies them onto a spreadsheet in his binder.
Gene drive mosquitoes have been proposed as a possible means to reduce the transmission of malaria in Africa. Because this technology has no prior use-history at this time, environmental risk assessments for gene drive mosquitoes will benefit from problem formulation—an organized and ordered process to identify protection goals and potential pathways to harm to the environment, or animal or human health. Recognizing this need, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), with support from African and international partners, organized four regional consultative workshops in Africa to initiate this process.
The impact of large dams on malaria has received widespread attention. However, understanding how dam topography and transmission endemicity influence malaria incidences is limited.
Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies are increasingly being used to address a diverse range of biological and epidemiological questions.
