Novel drug beats severe malaria
The mosquito is one of the most capable transmitter of malaria. Image: Henrik L/iStockphoto A novel anti-inflammatory drug could help to improve survival in the most severe cases of malaria by preventing the immune system from causing irrevocable brain and tissue damage.Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers have shown that a new class of anti-inflammatory agents, called IDR (innate defense regulator) peptides, could help to increase survival from severe clinical malaria when used in combination with antimalarial drugs.A research team fronted by Dr Ariel Achtman and Dr Sandra Pilat-Carotta, and led by Professor Louis Schofield from the institute’s Infection and Immunity division, published the study today in the journal Science Translational Medicine.Dr Achtman said that many drugs that prevent malaria infections are not effective in sick patients at preventing tissue damage that arises from the inflammatory immune response. “The most severe forms of malaria, such as cerebral malaria which causes brain damage,...