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Can some mosquitoes cause more transmission of malaria?
According to the World Health Organization, in 2019, there were approximately 229 million cases of malaria worldwide and the number of deaths from malaria stood at 4.09,000. Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites and is transmitted to humans through the bites of infected females Anopheles mosquitoes. A new study (PLOS pathogens) has shown that if a mosquito has multiple episodes of blood meals, it can shorten the incubation period of the parasites and increase the potential for malaria transmission. This poses new challenges to the current malaria elimination strategy. It also prompts us to rethink malaria research which is typically done by giving mosquitoes a single blood meal.
Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, the American researcher W. shows that this natural behavior strongly favors the transmission potential of malaria parasites, in a hitherto little known way.
The team found that the potential for malaria transmission in the sub-Saharan Africa region is higher than previously thought, making elimination of the disease even more difficult. They also noted that the parasites can be transmitted by younger mosquitoes, which are less susceptible to insecticides.
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