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Global efforts led by The Kids Research Institute Australia’s Child Health Analytics program will see nations impacted by high rates of malaria empowered to develop their own controls and solutions.
Climatic conditions are a key determinant of malaria transmission intensity, through their impacts on both the parasite and its mosquito vectors. Mathematical models relating climatic conditions to malaria transmission can be used to develop spatial maps of climatic suitability for malaria. These maps underpin efforts to quantify the distribution and burden of malaria in humans, enabling improved monitoring and control.
The Malaria Atlas Project (MAP) – which houses the world’s largest malaria database and is at the forefront of efforts to track and tackle the disease – has been awarded more than $16 million by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Disruptions of malaria case management caused by the COVID-19 pandemic likely contributed to an extra 76,000 malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa, according to analysis by The Kids Research Institute Australia and Curtin University.
A world-leading research team built to tackle malaria has relocated from Oxford University to Western Australia to take advantage of the state’s growing big data talent pool.
Malaria is a focal disease and more localized in low endemic areas. The disease is increasingly becoming a concern in urban areas in most sub-Saharan African countries. The growing threats of Anopheles stephensi and insecticide resistance magnify this concern and hamper elimination efforts. It is, therefore, imperative to identify areas, within urban settings, of high-risk of malaria to help better target interventions.
In high-transmission areas, school-aged children have higher malaria prevalence and contribute significantly to the transmission reservoir. Malaria infections can be asymptomatic or present with symptoms which may contribute to anaemia, severe illness and fatal malaria. This analysis provides trends of malaria prevalence and associated risk factors among school-aged children in mainland Tanzania.
Knowing when and where infected mosquitoes bite is required for estimating accurate measures of malaria risk, assessing outdoor exposure, and designing intervention strategies. This study combines secondary analyses of a human behaviour survey and an entomological survey carried out in the same area to estimate human exposure to malaria-infected Anopheles mosquitoes throughout the night in rural villages in south-eastern Tanzania.
Novel malaria vector control strategies targeting the odour-orientation of mosquitoes during host-seeking, such as 'attract-and-kill' or 'push-and-pull', have been suggested as complementary tools to indoor residual spraying and long-lasting insecticidal nets. These would be particularly beneficial if they can target vectors in the peri-domestic space where people are unprotected by traditional interventions.
Malaria is a deadly disease caused by Plasmodium spp. Several blood phenotypes have been associated with malarial resistance, which suggests a genetic component to immune protection.