New tool predicts malaria risk
Malaria is estimated to kill up to one million people each year. The researchers found that the likelihood of an infant developing clinical malaria is linked to the number of different parasites they acquire. Image: EdStock/iStockphoto A new technique that accurately determines the risk of infants in endemic countries developing clinical malaria could provide a valuable tool for evaluating new malaria prevention strategies and vaccines.The technique could even help to understand how anti-malarial vaccine and treatment strategies act to reduce malaria, say researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, University of Basel and the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research.Professor Ivo Mueller from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute's Infection and Immunity division said the research team discovered that the number of new malaria parasites that infants acquire over time is strongly linked to the risk that the child will develop clinical disease.“It was...