In the fight against malaria, the University of Pretoria (UP) has discovered new potent chemical compounds that have the potential to treat and eliminate the disease.
Members of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) mentioned that the malaria disease has not been given adequate attention because of COVID-19 pandemic which has caused malaria care to rapidly decline.
“Regardless of suspected Covid-19 conditions, pending Covid-19 tests or even a positive Covid-19 test, using a rapid diagnostic test or blood smear microscopy can obtain results urgently. Malaria should be considered in a patient with a progressively worsening febrile illness of unknown cause even if (there is) no travel history to a malaria-pendemic area,” NICD said.
The University has confirmed to have a number of professor’s researching the malaria cure alongside the international team that published the discovery in the “Nature Communications” platform on January 11.
Commenting on the news, University Professor, Lyn-Marie Birkholtz in biochemistry and South African research chairperson in Sustainable Malaria Control said: “The breakthrough involves the identification of unique compounds that are able to kill several stages of the malaria-causing parasite and can block the transmission of the parasite between humans and mosquitoes.”
For years, the parasite has been eliminated by the use of chemical drugs but according to the University, new anti-malaria drugs are needed to address the growing concern of antimalarial drug resistance. The parasite has been described as a “shapeshifter” as it can take on multiple forms while inside the human body with some of the forms causing diseases.
“To eliminate malaria, it is essential that we have the necessary tools to kill all these different forms of the parasite. We can then cure patients of the disease but, importantly, also block the malaria transmission cycle. This is the only way to achieve malaria elimination,” concluded the Professor.
