Mosquitoes Exposed To Antimalarial Drug Do Not Transmit Malaria Parasite, Study Shows, Proposes New Concept For Treated Nets

Agence France-Presse: Study finds potential new weapon in fight against malaria
“For years, insecticide-soaked mosquito nets have helped dramatically lower malaria infections, but insecticide resistance has driven a search for alternatives and a new study may have uncovered one option. The weapon is a familiar one: an antimalarial drug already used by humans to prevent them contracting the disease, and researchers now envisage using it on netting like insecticides…” (2/27).

Nature: Battling disease by giving mosquitoes an antimalarial drug
“…Writing in Nature, Paton et al. report a non-insecticidal intervention that stops mosquitoes from transmitting malaria and that might offer a way to reduce the reliance on insecticides alone as a means of malaria prevention. … The authors found that the antimalarial drug atovaquone, which inhibits the mitochondrial protein cytochrome b — as well as other types of cytochrome b inhibitor drug — could kill parasites in a mosquito host…” (Hemingway, 2/27).

NPR: Promising New Bed Net Strategy To Zap Malaria Parasite In Mosquitoes
“…[Flaminia Catteruccia, a lab head at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public and co-author of the study,] says these results are a proof of concept that antimalarial-treated bed nets could be a powerful new tool. She and colleagues argue that adding both antimalarials and insecticides to bed nets could considerably improve control efforts…” (Lambert, 2/27).

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