Finding simple solutions for developing countries
using advanced technology
P. vivax MALARIA |
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The neglected cousin that kills by attrition The most severe form of malaria is caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, and research effort has rightly been concentrated on it. However, Plasmodium vivax, neglected because it is not so frequently fatal on its own, is seriously debilitating and has been imposing an underestimated burden of sickness and mortality on fragile populations amounting to perhaps 1 billion people. One of the mechanisms used by the vivax parasite to enter target cells is strikingly similar to the mechanism employed by HIV. Substances developed against HIV would not be expected to work against P. vivax, but the methods developed by Mintaka scientists to block the former should permit the production of new compounds that will block the latter.
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One of the many species of the Anopheles mosquito that transmit vivax malaria )
Molecular representation of the structure used by the parasite to gain entry to human cells |
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