Roundup of articles and publications on the latest innovations in malaria, polio, lymphatic filariasis, and onchocerciasis

17 March 2022 – Below we feature a compilation of headlines, scientific articles, and technical reports on innovations, R&D and elimination progress towards polio, malaria, onchocerciasis, and lymphatic filariasis. We will be publishing these updates bi-weekly and hope they are useful.

 

Vector Control

• Oral susceptibility to ivermectin is over fifty times greater in a wild population of Anopheles albimanus mosquitoes from Belize than the STECLA laboratory reference strain of this mosquito – Link
• Blood-feeding patterns of Anopheles vectors of human malaria in Malawi: implications for malaria transmission and effectiveness of LLIN interventions – Link

Diagnostic testing and treatment

• Supervised versus unsupervised primaquine radical cure for the treatment of falciparum and vivax malaria in Papua, Indonesia: a cluster-randomised, controlled, open-label superiority trial – Link

Data

• Dynamical malaria modeling as a tool for bold policy-making – Link

Drug and vaccine development

• Novel malaria treatment for children receives first approval – Link
• Drug research and development opportunities in low- and middle-income countries: accelerating traditional medicine through systematic utilization and comprehensive synergy – Link
• Malaria vaccine: WHO position paper – March 2022 – Link
• Safety, pharmacokinetics, and antimalarial activity of the novel triaminopyrimidine ZY-19489: a first-in-human, randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind, single ascending dose study, pilot food-effect study, and volunteer infection study – Link
• Volunteer infection studies accelerate the clinical development of novel drugs against malaria – Link
• COVID-19 vaccine results might inform malaria vaccine strategies – Link

Drug resistance

• Molecular surveillance for operationally relevant genetic polymorphisms in Plasmodium falciparum in Southern Chad, 2016–2017 – Link

Immunisation

• Nearly 3 mln Malawian children to get polio shot after rare outbreak – Link

Surveillance

• Characterising spatial patterns of neglected tropical disease transmission using integrated sero-surveillance in Northern Ghana – Link
• Surveillance of Plasmodium vivax transmission using serological models in the border areas of China–Myanmar – Link

Elimination progress

• Accelerating malaria elimination in the Greater Mekong – Link

Outbreak

• Israeli child tests positive for polio – first case since 1989 – Link
• Africa battles out-of-control polio outbreaks – Link
• GPEI Statement on the cVDPV Outbreaks in the Northern Governorates in Yemen – Link
• IPCC report warns of malaria outbreak in Himalayan region – Link

Climate change

• Diseases climb up mountains as climate warms – Link
• Five takeaways from the UN’s climate report – Link | Link to Paper

Other

• MSD and the Mectizan Donation Program Donate $500,000 to Strengthen Laboratory Capacity to support Onchocerciasis Elimination in Africa – Link
• JCU to continue fight against disabling tropical diseases with WHO – Link
• Spleen nodules in Loa loa infection: re-emerging knowledge and future perspectives – Link
• Lao health ministry, partner to eliminate malaria – Link
• Science for Health Equity – Link
• Cambodia ministry officials meet with WHO for ‘zero malaria’ talks – Link
• Statement of the Thirty-first Polio IHR Emergency Committee – Link
• Shining a spotlight on female health workers – Link
• Community perceptions and acceptability of mass drug administration for the control of neglected tropical diseases in Asia-Pacific countries: A systematic scoping review of qualitative research – Link
• Factors influencing health workers’ compliance with outpatient malaria ‘test and treat’ guidelines during the plateauing performance phase in Kenya, 2014–2016 – Link
• From mink to malaria – Link
• Karnataka: Focus on migrant workers in drug administration to counter lymphatic filariasis in Kalaburgi, Bidar – Link
• GLIDE: Eradicating preventable infectious diseases of poverty – Link
• Malaria parasite’s survival linked to two proteins – Link | Link to Paper
• How COVID has affected the control of neglected tropical diseases – Link

 

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