While 5% of 247 million global malaria cases are reported in Uganda, it is also a top refugee hosting country in Africa, with over 1.36 million refugees. Despite malaria being an emerging challenge for humanitarian response in refugee settlements, little is known about its risk factors.
Malaria was a major public health issue in Nepal for much of the 20th century (Newby, 2015), but cases declined significantly in the past two decades, in response to concerted intervention efforts, as part of a push to elimination. Between 2010 and 2020, indigenous malaria declined by about 98% with only 73 cases reported in Nepal in 2020 (EDCD, 2021), and Nepal is preparing for malaria elimination by 2026.
An obligatory step in the complex life cycle of the malaria parasite is sporogony, which occurs during the oocyst stage in adult female Anopheles mosquitoes. Sporogony is metabolically demanding, and successful oocyst maturation is dependent on host lipids. In insects, lipid energy reserves are mobilized by adipokinetic hormones (AKHs).
Climate and climate change affect the spatial pattern and seasonality of malaria risk. Season lengths and spatial extents of mapped current and future malaria transmission suitability predictions for Nepal were assessed for a combination of malaria vector and parasites: Anopheles stephensi and Plasmodium falciparum (ASPF) and An. stephensi and Plasmodium vivax (ASPV) and compared with observed estimates of malaria risk in Nepal.
Two new studies advance a potentially groundbreaking transmission-blocking malaria vaccine. UF researcher Rhoel Dinglasan's approach is completely different: Immunizing mosquitoes with malaria transmission-blocking antibodies produced in people.
A malaria vaccine designed by UF professor Rhoel Dinglasan is expected to advance to phase 1 clinical trials, thanks to new funding. The vaccine is designed differently from all others: It immunizes mosquitoes via people.
New research by EPI investigators examines why intervention strategies to mitigate malaria in Zambia began failing several years ago. In a twist, the mechanisms were predicted by a separate EPI investigator in different work published five years earlier.
Ever wonder what scientists are up to behind the scenes, when they are not consumed with crunching data, or endlessly editing papers for publication? They just may be traveling in far-flung places — hunting for data and building relationships with the people and places they study. This is the second photo essay in an occasional series, Science Scenes, in which we invite you to explore how EPI's faculty and affiliate researchers work across the globe.
A new study authored by EPI researcher Rhoel Dinglasan, Ph.D., and colleagues, twists the narrative in the fight against malaria by treating mosquitoes. His team showed that feeding a known antimalarial drug — intended for humans — to infected Anopheles mosquitoes rendered them unable to transmit malaria parasites to new hosts.
A new $1.29 million grant from the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund will support EPI malaria investigator Rhoel Dinglasan’s work to develop a novel saliva-based malaria diagnostic test that catches infections even when victims don’t show symptoms.
