Plasmodium
tsmith | April 20, 2010Student guest post by Laura Vonnahme
As a part of traveling to a developing nation, we are often required to take medical precautions. This generally includes a line-up of shots for various diseases, a few other tests, and various regimens of prophylaxis for possible diseases. I have often left these doctors appointments with a line of band-aids on my arm, a handful of prescriptions and a little weakness in my knees. However, I will readily admit that my malaria prophylaxis is often pushed to the back burner; in fact the last time I went to a developing nation, I didn't even get the malaria…
edyong | August 3, 2009Swine flu has made the world all too aware of the possibility of diseases making the leap from animal hosts to human ones. Now, we know that another disease made a similar transition from chimpanzees to humans, several thousand years ago. This particular infection is caused by a parasite, and a very familiar and dangerous one - Plasmodium falciparum, the agent responsible for malaria.
Transmitted by the bite of mosquitoes, P.falciparum infects over 500 million people every year. Its closest relative is a related parasite, Plasmodium reichenowi, which infects chimpanzees. Leading an…
cwilcox | October 21, 2008Each year, Malaria kills one to three million people, mostly kids. Caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium and spread by mosquitos, malaria is one of the most common infectious diseases, and while there is treatment, drug resistance is a constant problem. If the prevalence of malaria continues on its current course, the death rate could double in the next twenty years. All and all, it is a nasty, deadly, and pathogenic problem that scientists are constantly struggling with controlling.
One route scientists have taken to help stop malaria is to reduce the number of mosquitos…