Malaria... a serious concern for Goa. Hardly getting the consistent attention it deserves. FN
http://www.scidev.net/gateways/index.cfm?fuseaction=readitem&rgwid=6&item=News&itemid=1851&language=1 Mutation for drug resistance in Indian malaria identified Aedes aegypti (a vector of Dengue) taking a blood meal through human skin. (Courtesy of the Dept. of Medical Illustration, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK). T. V. Padma 13 January 2005 Source: SciDev.Net [AHMEDABAD] Scientists have identified the genetic mutation allowing the parasite that causes fatal cerebral malaria in India to resist a widely used drug. They warn that India could be becoming a new centre for the spread of such resistance, and that it needs to reassess the way it treats the disease. The scientists, based at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore, studied the genetic make-up of the malaria parasites in the blood of 200 people with cerebral malaria � the form of the disease affecting the brain that accounts for almost 60 per cent of the 2.3 million cases of malaria in India each year. The researchers found that in 95 per cent of those infected, the parasite had a mutation � termed SVMNT � in one of its genes. Malaria parasites with the mutation are not affected by chloroquine, a drug commonly used to treat the disease. Govindrajan Padmanabhan, scientist emeritus at IISc, told the 92nd Indian Science Congress in Ahmedabad last week that until now the mutation had not been reported outside South America, including in India's neighbouring South-East Asia, or in Africa where malaria is rampant. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Frederick Noronha 784 Near Convent, Sonarbhat SALIGAO GOA India Freelance Journalist TEL: +91-832-2409490 MOBILE: 9822122436 http://fn.swiki.net http://www.livejournal.com/users/goalinks fred at bytesforall.org http://www.bytesforall.org
