Malaria

The parasite begins to accumulate in red blood cells and multiply, gradually eating them from the inside.

As a result, the blood cell loses its mobility and begins to settle on the walls of the vessels.

In red blood cells, the parasite actively divides to create instead of one large cell many small ones called mereosites.

And as a result of the breakdown of the red blood cell, all mereosites enter the blood plasma, causing a fever attack.

Two malaria cells multiply in red blood cells. One opened up to release parasites and infect other cells.

Mortality

Deaths from coronavirus and other diseases, including malaria in 2021

According to WHO data for 2019, more than 400,000 people die from malaria every year.

Infectious diseases that cause the most people to die or lose health, for 2021

• lower respiratory tract infections;
• HIV/AIDS;
• tuberculosis;
• diarrhoeal diseases;
• malaria;
• measles.

2021: WHO approves world's first malaria vaccine

On October 6, 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) approved the use of the world's first malaria vaccine and recommended the start of its use around the world. A drug called Mosquirix was developed by GlaxoSmithKline. Read more here.

2020: Announcement of a smart patch that detects malaria in humans in 20 minutes

In mid-November 2020, Rice University released a microneedle patch that detects malaria by analyzing intercellular fluid. It is enough for the patient to stick a patch on the skin to get a result in 20 minutes. Read more here.

2018:228 million malaria patients and 405 thousand deaths

In 2018, according to the World Health Organization, 228 million people fell ill with malaria worldwide, and 405 thousand died from it.

2015:62% reduction in malaria deaths over 15 years

Thanks to large-scale antimalarial activities between 2000 and 2015, malaria deaths decreased by 62% and morbidity by more than 50%.

1917: Treatment of the sick through their malaria infection

At the beginning of the 20th century, patients were infected with malaria to cure syphilis.

Malaria causes a very high temperature that kills syphilis bacteria. But then the patients were treated for malaria. There were no antibiotics at the time and syphilis was a direct threat to life.

Malaria therapy was developed by Julius Wagner-Jauregg, who in 1917 first vaccinated malaria in patients suffering from progressive paralysis. For the development of this therapy, Wagner-Jauregg received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1927. Wagner-Jauregg also used malaria therapy to treat syphilis, neurosyphilis, multiple sclerosis, and schizophrenia.

50,000 hp malaria shifts from gorillas to humans

In 2019, scientists found that about 50,000 years ago, malaria genetically changed and began to infect people. Before that, only gorillas suffered from the disease.

The most deadly form of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, has acquired the ability to infect human blood cells, thanks to parasites in gorillas.

Researchers believe that thousands of years of gorilla accidentally infected Plasmodium falciparum, so the exchange of genetic material occurred. This process is called zoonosis. The flu and Ebola went through it, too.

A fragment of the parasite's DNA code, which has mutated and which allows malaria to infect human red blood cells, is called RH5. Scientists pay special attention to it, because in 2019 it is an important element in the path of creating a vaccine against malaria. If you find out more about this gene, it will help in the fight against the disease.