Rodent Malaria

Rodent Malaria
Author: R. Killick-Kendrick
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 435
Release: 2012-12-02
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0323150578

Rodent Malaria reviews significant findings concerning malaria parasites of rodents, including their taxonomy, zoogeography, and evolution, along with life cycles and morphology; genetics and biochemistry; and concomitant infections. This volume is organized into eight chapters and begins by sketching out the history of the discovery of rodent as well as aspects of parasitology, immunology, and chemotherapy. These concepts are investigated two decades following Ignace Vincke's major discovery and Meir Yoeli's successful establishment of the method of cyclical transmission of the parasite. The following chapters focus on the taxonomy and systematics of the subgenus Vinckeia, with reference to the concepts of species and subspecies of animals and the degree to which they apply to malaria parasites, in particular to those of rodents. The discussion then shifts to how the rodent malaria parasites provide a unique insight into the subcellular organization of Plasmodium species, the use of rodent malaria as an experimental model to study immunological responses, and infectious agents that interact with malaria parasites. The book concludes with a chapter on malaria chemotherapy, with emphasis on the value of rodent malaria in antimalarial drug screening and the use of antimalarial drugs as biological probes. This book will be of interest to protozoologists and physicians as well as those from other disciplines including biochemistry, immunology, pharmacology, cell biology, and genetics.

Gene Drives on the Horizon

Gene Drives on the Horizon
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2016-08-28
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309437873

Research on gene drive systems is rapidly advancing. Many proposed applications of gene drive research aim to solve environmental and public health challenges, including the reduction of poverty and the burden of vector-borne diseases, such as malaria and dengue, which disproportionately impact low and middle income countries. However, due to their intrinsic qualities of rapid spread and irreversibility, gene drive systems raise many questions with respect to their safety relative to public and environmental health. Because gene drive systems are designed to alter the environments we share in ways that will be hard to anticipate and impossible to completely roll back, questions about the ethics surrounding use of this research are complex and will require very careful exploration. Gene Drives on the Horizon outlines the state of knowledge relative to the science, ethics, public engagement, and risk assessment as they pertain to research directions of gene drive systems and governance of the research process. This report offers principles for responsible practices of gene drive research and related applications for use by investigators, their institutions, the research funders, and regulators.

Mosquitoes, Communities, and Public Health in Texas

Mosquitoes, Communities, and Public Health in Texas
Author: Mustapha Debboun
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 420
Release: 2019-09-14
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0128145463

Mosquitoes, Communities, and Public Health in Texas focuses on 87 known species of mosquitoes found throughout Texas. It includes information on the ecology, medical and public health importance, and biological diversity of each species. In addition, it provides detailed identification keys for both larval and adult stages of all mosquito genera and species known to occur in Texas, along a review of surveillance and control strategies. The expansion of invasive mosquitoes from other regions (including Mexico), together with climate change occurrences increase the likelihood for an increase in diseases, such as West Nile Virus, Yellow Fever, Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika. This unique work is the first unified reference and resource rich in mosquito information for medical entomologists, mosquito and vector control professionals, pest management professionals, biologists, environmentalists, wildlife professionals, government regulators, instructors of medical entomology and public health professionals who have disease or vector responsibilities, mosquito taxonomists, epidemiologists, entomology students, academia, pest control industry, and libraries, etc., with utility for medical, veterinary and health professionals. Brings into one volume the previously fragmented or unavailable information on the species of mosquitoes found in Texas and neighboring states of Mexico Provides a variety of audiences with key data on mosquito biology, distribution and how to identify each Includes a geographic distribution map, habitat associations, and medical importance on Zika, West Nile virus, Dengue and Chikungunya for each species

Malaria

Malaria
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 312
Release: 1991-02-01
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780309045278

Malaria is making a dramatic comeback in the world. The disease is the foremost health challenge in Africa south of the Sahara, and people traveling to malarious areas are at increased risk of malaria-related sickness and death. This book examines the prospects for bringing malaria under control, with specific recommendations for U.S. policy, directions for research and program funding, and appropriate roles for federal and international agencies and the medical and public health communities. The volume reports on the current status of malaria research, prevention, and control efforts worldwide. The authors present study results and commentary on the: Nature, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and epidemiology of malaria. Biology of the malaria parasite and its vector. Prospects for developing malaria vaccines and improved treatments. Economic, social, and behavioral factors in malaria control.

Saving Lives, Buying Time

Saving Lives, Buying Time
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2004-09-09
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309165938

For more than 50 years, low-cost antimalarial drugs silently saved millions of lives and cured billions of debilitating infections. Today, however, these drugs no longer work against the deadliest form of malaria that exists throughout the world. Malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africaâ€"currently just over one million per yearâ€"are rising because of increased resistance to the old, inexpensive drugs. Although effective new drugs called "artemisinins" are available, they are unaffordable for the majority of the affected population, even at a cost of one dollar per course. Saving Lives, Buying Time: Economics of Malaria Drugs in an Age of Resistance examines the history of malaria treatments, provides an overview of the current drug crisis, and offers recommendations on maximizing access to and effectiveness of antimalarial drugs. The book finds that most people in endemic countries will not have access to currently effective combination treatments, which should include an artemisinin, without financing from the global community. Without funding for effective treatment, malaria mortality could double over the next 10 to 20 years and transmission will intensify.

The Malaria Genome Projects

The Malaria Genome Projects
Author: Irwin W. Sherman
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 389
Release: 2012
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1848169035

The year 2012 marks the tenth anniversary of the announcement of the genome sequence of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum and that of its mosquito vector Anopheles. The genome sequences were a result of the Plasmodium falciparum Genome Project. This book covers in detail the biology of malaria parasites and the mosquitoes that transmit the disease, how the Genome Project came into being, the people who created it, and the cadre of scientists who are attempting to see the promise of the Project realized. The promise was: a more complete understanding of the genes of the parasite (and its vector) would provide a rational basis for the development of antimalarial drugs and vaccines, allow a better understanding of the regulation of the complex life cycle in the red blood and liver cells of the human, identify the genes the parasite uses to thwart the host immune response and the ways in which the parasite evades cure by drug treatments, as well as leading to more effective measures of control transmission. The hope was that cracking the genetic code of Plasmodium and Anopheles would reveal the biochemical Achilles heel of the parasite and its vector, leading to the development of novel drugs and better methods of control, and by finding the targets of protective immunity could result in the manufacture of effective vaccines. Through a historic approach, this book will allow for those new to the field, or those with insufficient background in the sciences, to have an easier entry point. Even scientists already working in the field may better appreciate how discoveries made in the past can impact the direction of future research.