malaria

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Did Nazis Try to Weaponize Mosquitoes?

Researcher thinks documents prove Hitler's biological weapon ban was ignored

(Newser) - Were Nazi scientists planning to unleash disease-carrying mosquitoes on the Allies? It's a long-running debate, but one biologist thinks he's uncovered evidence that indicates they were. Klaus Reinhardt believes that the entomological institute at Dachau was actually working on weaponizing mosquitoes, National Geographic reports. As evidence, he cites...

Your Body Make Its Own Mosquito Repellent
Your Body Makes Its Own Mosquito Repellent
NEW STUDY
Sep 10, 2013 11:40 AM CDT

Your Body Makes Its Own Mosquito Repellent

Cloaking compounds found on skin could be used to combat bites, disease

(Newser) - Bad news for bug spray is good news for just about everyone else: Scientists have discovered a mosquito repellent that makes humans pretty much invisible to the pesky blood suckers—and your body makes it on its own. When used in larger quantities, some 24 "cloaking compounds" found on...

Malaria Vaccine Rocks in Small Study

Injections gave some volunteers 100% protection

(Newser) - A new malaria vaccine has raised eyebrows in early testing and revived the dream of curbing a disease that killed more than a million people in 2010—most of them children, NBC News reports. Only 57 volunteers were involved in the US test, says Science Daily , but all who received...

New Malaria Strains Beat Best Drug

Scientists hope DNA fingerprinting can halt spread

(Newser) - Scientists are scrambling to stay a step ahead of a fast-evolving strain of malaria-causing parasite that has developed resistance to artemisinin, the most important drug used to fight the disease. Researchers examining the DNA of malaria parasites from around the world found three separate artemisinin-resistant strains in western Cambodia that...

Possible Malaria Weapon: Bug-Killing Paint

It could be a breakthrough against insect-borne diseases

(Newser) - A new paint that contains insecticide lasts longer than traditional bug-killing agents and is more effective in many circumstances, researchers say, making it a hopeful option for curbing insect-borne illnesses. It's already helped cut infestations of bugs like the vinchuca, which carries the often-fatal Chagas disease, in homes in...

Malaria Drugs Lose Punch in Key Region

Resistance grows in Burma, raising risk of major outbreak

(Newser) - Malaria researchers are watching with alarm as once-effective drugs lose their punch in a flashpoint region, reports the Guardian . New studies show that drugs based on the plant extract artemisinin are losing potency on the Burma-Thailand border. The problem started in Cambodia and is apparently spreading as counterfeit versions spring...

Risky Malaria Drug: a Factor in Afghan Massacre?

US military orders emergency review of mefloquine use

(Newser) - In the wake of the shootings of 17 civilians in Afghanistan, the US military is scrambling to limit the use of an anti-malaria drug that can have serious side effects—including psychotic behavior. Mefloquine, also called Lariam, has already been implicated in a number of suicides and homicides. In 2009,...

Malaria Kills Twice as Many as We Thought: Study

Health officials have been undercounting adult victims, researchers argue

(Newser) - Health officials have been vastly underestimating the number of people who die of malaria every year, because they've largely ignored its adult victims, according to a new report published in the Lancet . The actual death toll for 2010, according to its estimate, was 1.24 million, nearly twice the...

Malaria Deaths Plummet 20% Over Decade

Dozens of countries poised to eliminate disease

(Newser) - Countries across the globe are making giant strides against malaria, the World Health Organization says: The number of deaths from the disease has dropped more than 20% over the last 10 years, and a third of the 108 countries where the illness is endemic could be rid of it in...

Smelly Socks Could Stop Malaria

Scent lures infected mosquitoes into traps

(Newser) - Your smelly clothes hamper could soon save lives. Researchers in Tanzania are testing dirty socks as a way to prevent malaria, reports the Washington Post . The scent of the socks lure mosquitoes infected with the disease into traps, where they're poisoned and die. If it works, it'll provide...

Fungus Cures Mosquitoes of Malaria

May prove durable weapon against the spread of the disease

(Newser) - Scientists are trying a new approach to stop the spread of malaria: Rather than attempt to kill the mosquitoes outright, they're using a genetically-altered fungus to kill the parasite in the mosquitoes who spread it, NPR reports. "The trick we did was to engineer the fungus so that it...

George Clooney Gets, Beats Malaria

He contracted it during a visit to Sudan

(Newser) - Lots of celebrities do philanthropy, but George Clooney's actually suffering in the line of do-goodery—the actor contracted malaria while on a recent trip to Sudan, People reports. However, he's fully cured after a 10-day convalescence, said a spokesman. Clooney was in Sudan ahead of its vote on southern independence....

Mutating Malaria Mosquito Breeds Panic

Deadly insect splitting into two species

(Newser) - Scientists battling the deadliest creature on Earth have been alarmed to discover that it is rapidly evolving into two distinct species. The Anopheles gambiae mosquito, responsible for some million deaths from malaria every year, has split into two genetically different strains, the Independent reports. Scientists warn that this will complicate...

Genetically Modified Mosquito May End Malaria

Disease-resistant insect could be new tool

(Newser) - Researchers from the University of Arizona have developed a genetically modified mosquito that is immune to the malaria parasite and thus unable to transmit the illness to people. The new mosquito could eventually help control or even eliminate the disease. Malaria infects more than 250 million yearly, resulting in a...

Glaxo Offers Free Access to Malaria Research

Company makes vast database public to help science find a cure

(Newser) - GlaxoSmithKline has opened up its database of compounds with the potential to cure malaria to any scientists who wants to take up the challenge. The move—unheard of in the pharmaceutical industry—comes after company scientists spent a year screening all 2 million compounds in the company's library for those...

WHO Sounds Alarm on Homeopathy

(Newser) - The World Health Organization has issued a warning against homeopathic treatments for TB and other life-threatening illnesses, reports the BBC. The organization issued the alert after pressure from a group of young researchers who complained that homeopathy was being promoted in poor countries as a treatment for TB, infant diarrhea,...

Mosquito Invasion Threatens Galapagos Wildlife

(Newser) - Scientists fear that winged invaders could wipe out native species on the islands where Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution, the Times of London reports. Mosquitoes have been hitching rides to the Galapagos on incoming aircraft, and now Galapagos species—including iguanas, tortoises, and Darwin's finches—are in serious...

Single Pill Can Halt Diarrhea's Deadly Reign

(Newser) - Diarrhea kills 1.6 million children under 5 every year—more than AIDS or malaria—and gets a fraction of the funding. But a deceptively simple new treatment may mark a breakthrough, Time reports. Zinc supplements appear to dramatically decrease diarrhea-related deaths—one afflicted village in Mali hasn’t had...

Malaria Jumped From Chimps to Humans

(Newser) - The parasite that causes malaria almost certainly jumped from chimpanzees to humans much like the AIDS virus did, National Geographic reports. Scientists initially believed that the malaria parasite that kills over a million people annually was older than humanity. But new research has found that it is a mutant version...

Gadget Turns Phone Into Microscope

CellScope could help curb outbreaks of disease in developing world

(Newser) - A new gadget could mean big improvements for health care in the developing world. Called the CellScope, the device attaches to any cell phone with a camera, turning it into a microscope, Science Blogs reports. Invented by researchers at UC Berkeley, the CellScope also features an LED that can detect...

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