Developments on the malaria front
The new study also indicates that PfAP2-I likely recruits another protein, Bromodomain Protein 1 (PfBDP1), which was previously shown to be involved in the invasion of red blood cells.
The two proteins may work together to regulate gene transcription during this critical stage of infection.
For more on this potential new target, see their study published in Cell Host & Microbe.
Parasite diversity
Not all malaria infections result in life-threatening anemia and organ failure, and so a research team led by Matthew B. B. McCall, MD, PhD, of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, set out to determine why.
They exposed 23 healthy human volunteers to sets of 5 mosquitoes carrying the NF54, NF135.C10, or NF166.C8 isolates of P falciparum.
All volunteers developed parasitemia, were treated with anti-malarial drugs, and recovered, although some strains caused more severe symptoms.
The investigators found that 3 geographic and genetically diverse forms of the parasite each demonstrated a distinct ability to infect liver cells.
They also observed the degree of infection in human liver cells growing in culture was closely correlated with parasite loads in the bloodstream.
The investigators believe the variability among parasite types suggests that malaria vaccines should use multiple strains.
In addition, the infectivity of different parasite strains could vary in populations previously exposed to malaria.
For more details on parasite diversity, see the team’s findings in Science Translational Medicine.
Malaria test
A new malaria test can diagnose malaria faster and more reliably than current methods, according to a report in the NL Times.
The new test uses an algorithm that can diagnose malaria at a rate of 120 blood tests per hour. It is 97% accurate.
Rather than search for the parasite itself in blood samples, the new test analyzes the effect the infection has on the blood, such as shape and density of red blood cells, hemoglobin level, and 27 other parameters simultaneously.
The developers won the European Inventor Award for the rapid malaria test, which will be further developed by Siemens.
Aid to combat malaria
The US malaria initiative in 19 sub-Saharan African countries has contributed to a 16% reduction in the annual risk of mortality for children under 5 years, according to a new study published in PLOS Medicine.
Thirteen sub-Saharan countries did not receive funding from the initiative, which allowed researchers to compare and analyze the impact of the intervention.
Because the study may have had confounding variables that were not measured, however, the results could not be definitively interpreted as causal evidence of the reduction in child mortality rates.
However, they do indicate an association between the receipt of funding and mortality.
The funding went to support malaria prevention technologies, such as insecticide-treated nets and indoor residual spraying.
The authors believe further investment in these interventions “may translate to additional lives saved, reduced household financial burdens associated with caring for ill household members and lost wages, and less strain on health systems associated with treating malaria cases.”
Countries that received funding included: Angola, Benin, Congo DRC, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Comparison countries include: Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Namibia, Niger, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, The Gambia, and Togo. 
