New way to kill malaria parasites

A group of scientists from Australia, the US and Singapore built the first drug in the past two decades that could kill malaria parasites more effectively, according to Reuters.

A study from the Australian National University (ANU) found a part of the parasite capable of pumping salts continuously from their bodies.

Malaria parasites live in red blood cells full of salt. Therefore, in order to survive, the parasite must remove salt from their bodies.

Plasmodium

On that basis, scientists at ANU collaborated with scientists at the Novartis Institute of Tropical Diseases in Singapore and Novartis Research Institute's Genomics Institute in the US to create a drug to prevent salt parasites . At that time, the parasite will die of salt.

The drug is currently being tested clinically and at least a few more years before it is launched.

This is the latest antimalarial drug in the last 20 years and promises the ability to kill this deadly disease.

Malaria spreads from person to person through mosquitoes carrying germs. About 100 million people suffer from malaria annually worldwide and about 600,000 of them die, mostly under 5 years old.

Experts say the parasite is capable of evolving and may resist drugs that fight malaria parasites.