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Mosquito-killing drug offers new tool for fighting malaria
Why is it in news?
- Researchers said, a mosquito-killing drug tested in Burkina Faso reduced malaria cases by a fifth among children and could be an important new tool in the global fight against the disease.
More in news
- Drug: The drug, ivermectin, is already widely used to treat parasitic infections but had not previously been tested for its effects on malaria incidence.
- How is it work?(1) When people take ivermectin it makes their blood lethal to the mosquitoes that bite them, thereby reducing the likelihood that others will be bitten and infected.(2) It could potentially be used in combination with other malaria control methods to protect more people.
- Annual cases: According to the U.N. health agency’s 2018 malaria report, after several years of steady declines, annual cases of the mosquito-borne disease have levelled off.
- Data points: Malaria infects over 200 million people a year and killed 435,000 in 2017, mostly in Africa.
- Future work: Other control methods being tested include a vaccine and genetic modifications to block mosquito reproduction.
Source
The Hindu