Antiviral Nanomaterials as Potential Targets for Malaria Prevention and Treatment
Devarajan Thangadurai, Saher Islam, Charles Oluwaseun Adetunji in Viral and Antiviral Nanomaterials, 2022
Malaria is expected to be the most widespread and irresistible infection in the world, causing a predominantly serious health problem in Asia, Africa, and the Americas (Biamonte et al. 2013). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2018 alone, there were an expected 228 million instances of malaria around the world, which caused about 405,000 demises (World Malaria Report 2019). About 93% of the cases and demises happened in an African Province of a region the WHO describes as the most elevated concern of malaria morbus. Children 5 years of age and under are the extremely susceptible group, addressing 67% of all malarial demises around the world (World Malaria Report 2019). Five distinctive species of plasmodium family can manifest malaria in people, including P. falciparum, P. ovale, P. vivax, P. malariae, and P. knowlesi (Greenwood et al. 2008). The malarial cycle is regulated by apicomplexial parasites of the plasmodium category that are spread to the mammalian host by the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito. Malaria is a deadly virus and uses human cellular machinery for its growth. The life cycle of these parasites is multifarious (Figure 18.1), switching back and forth between a mammalian and an invertebrate host, and contains three formative phases: the pre-erythrocytic or liver phase, the erythrocytic or blood phase, and the sporogonic or mosquito phase (Prudêncio et al. 2006; Cowman et al. 2016).
Infectious Disease and Foreign Travel Emergencies
Anthony FT Brown, Michael D Cadogan in Emergency Medicine, 2020
Falciparum malaria is the most dangerous form of malaria. Cases are imported to Australia from Africa, Asia and Papua New Guinea, but other tropical sources include the western Pacific, Amazon basin and Oceania. Malaria is a potentially fatal infection. Survivors may experience damage to the brain, kidneys, liver, heart, gastrointestinal tract and lungs.Cerebral malaria is an abrupt onset of encephalopathy with headache that can progress rapidly to confusion, seizures and coma.Other malaria presentations include an influenza-like illness, diarrhoea and vomiting, jaundice, acute renal failure, acute respiratory distress, postural hypotension or shock, progressive anaemia and thrombocytopenia.The patient may not look ill in the first few days, but the non-immune or splenectomized patient may then deteriorate rapidly over a few hours and die.
Planning for aeromedical evacuation
Nicholas Green, Steven Gaydos, Hutchison Ewan, Edward Nicol in Handbook of Aviation and Space Medicine, 2019
Aeromedical crew: Training.Aircraft type knowledge.Responsibilities.Medical competency – sufficient to deal with anticipated risks.Escort numbers sufficient for medical care needs and emergency egress.Importation of drugs.Aeromedical crew duty/rest rules.Travel health preparation: Malaria prevention.Immunisations.Occupational health/fitness for role.Passport and visa.
Antimalarial drugs: what’s new in the patents?
Published in Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Patents, 2023
Elizabeth A. Lopes, Maria M. M. Santos, Mattia Mori
Plasmodium parasites are responsible for the infection of malaria. Among them, P. falciparum is the most lethal and with higher morbidity, while P. vivax may cause infection relapse [2]. Malaria is transmitted among humans through the blood-feeding bite of the Anopheles mosquito. Throughout its life cycle, the Plasmodium parasite has different stages of development, including asexual replication and sexual development in the liver and blood of hosts, and sexual reproduction in mosquito vectors, such as thoroughly described elsewhere [3–6]. Over the years, several research and economical efforts have been spent to eradicate malaria, and it is estimated that vector control strategies and drug-based treatments have saved around 7.6 million lives between 2000 and 2015 [7].
Malaria vaccines
Published in Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Patents, 2023
Michael Quagliata, Anna Maria Papini, Paolo Rovero
Malaria prevention is fundamental to eradicating this disease, especially in the poorest areas of the planet. Vaccines patent landscape collected herein testify to the extensive research work performed to develop increasingly effective and innovative vaccines. As mentioned above, only RTS,S vaccine, based on plasmodium CSP protein, is currently commercially available. This has certainly directed the research toward new compositions targeting this protein that is believed to be key in disease development. On the other hand, it is crucial to diversify vaccines according to the different stages of the parasite life cycle they are addressed to, not only to have different and tunable effects in vaccinated subjects but also to match the type of composition to the different areas of the planet, where the disease has different mortality and diffusion rate. For example, Malaria Transmission Blocking Vaccines can be very effective in areas where malaria is widespread, as they block transmission from the mosquito to humans.
Use of genetically modified lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria as live delivery vectors for human and animal health
Published in Gut Microbes, 2022
Romina Levit, Naima G. Cortes-Perez, Alejandra de Moreno de Leblanc, Jade Loiseau, Anne Aucouturier, Philippe Langella, Jean Guy LeBlanc, Luis G. Bermúdez-Humarán
Malaria is a disease caused by different species of the Plasmodium parasite and transmitted by the female Anopheles mosquito.124 Different vaccines have been studied with the aim of producing specific antibodies against proteins expressed during the development of the parasite in the mosquito. In this sense, L lactis has been used to express the cysteine-rich Pfs48/45 protein, exposed on the surface of sexual stages of the parasite125,126 or the Circumsporozoite protein (PfCSP), a sporozoite surface protein essential for its development in the mosquito and cell invasion in the mammalian host.40 The results showed the induction of high levels of functional antibodies in rodents. The expression in L. lactis of the fusion protein Pfs230-Pfs48/45 was also studied and the final product elicited high levels of functional antibodies in mice.127