From: Andrew Johnson
Date: 2009-09-19 16:57:38
Attachments : Yep, you’ll never believe it… Monkey Malaria!! I’ve highlighted what I think might be a clue… www.sciencedaily.com… Web address: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/
090909103004.htm Emerging New Monkey Malaria Species Potential Deadly In Humans ScienceDaily (Sep. 9, 2009) — Researchers in Malaysia have identified key laboratory and clinical features of an emerging new form of malaria infection. The research, funded by the Wellcome Trust, confirms the potentially deadly nature of the disease. Malaria kills more than a million people each year. It is caused by malaria parasites, which are injected into the bloodstream by infected mosquitoes. Of the four species of malaria that commonly cause disease in humans, Plasmodium falciparum, found most commonly in Africa, is the most deadly. P. malariae, found in tropical and sub-tropical regions across the globe, has symptoms that are usually less serious. Recently, researchers at the University Malaysia Sarawak, led by Professors Balbir Singh and Janet Cox-Singh, showed that P. knowlesi, a malaria parasite previously thought to mainly infect only monkeys – in particular long-tailed and pig-tailed macaques found in the rainforests of Southeast Asia – was widespread amongst humans in Malaysia. Subsequent reports in neighbouring Southeast Asian countries have led to the recognition of P. knowlesi as the fifth cause of malaria in humans. Now, in a study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, Professors Singh and Cox-Singh, together with colleagues from University Malaysia Sarawak, Kapit Hospital and the University of Western Australia, have published the first detailed prospective study of the clinical and laboratory features of human P. knowlesi infections. “P. knowlesi malaria can easily be confused with P. malariae since these two parasites look similar by microscopy, but the latter causes a benign form of malaria,” says Professor Singh. “In fact, because the P. knowlesi parasites reproduce every twenty four hours in the blood, the disease can be potentially fatal, so early diagnosis and appropriate treatment is essential. Understanding the most common features of the disease will be important in helping make this diagnosis and in planning appropriate clinical management.” The researchers initially recruited over 150 patients admitted to Kapit Hospital in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, between July 2006 and January 2008 who had tested positive with a blood film slide for Plasmodium species. Using molecular detection methods, P. knowlesi was found to be by far the most common infection amongst these patients, accounting for over two-thirds of all cases. As with other types of malaria in humans, P. knowlesi infections resulted in a wide spectrum of disease. Most cases of infection were uncomplicated and easily treated with chloroquine and primaquine, two commonly used anti-malarial drugs. However, around one in ten patients had developed complications and two died. Complications included breathing difficulties and kidney problems (including kidney failure in a small number of cases), which are also common in severe P. falciparum cases. Although the researchers saw a case fatality rate of just under 2%, which makes P. knowlesi malaria as deadly as P. falciparum malaria, they stress that an accurate fatality rate is hard to determine given the relatively small number of cases studied so far. All of the P. knowlesi patients – including those with uncomplicated malaria – had a low blood platelet count. In other human forms of malaria, this would only be expected in less than eight out of ten cases. In addition, the P. knowlesi platelet counts tended to be significantly lower than for other malarias. However, even though blood platelets are essential for blood clotting, no cases of excessive bleeding or problems with clotting were identified. The researchers believe the low blood platelet count could be used as a potential feature for diagnosis of P. knowlesi infections. Recently, there have been cases of European travellers to Malaysia and an American traveller to the Philippines being admitted into hospital with knowlesi malaria following their return home. “The increase in tourism in Southeast Asia may mean that more cases are detected in the future, including in Western countries,” says Professor Singh. “Clinicians assessing a patient who has visited an area with known or possible P. knowlesi transmission should be aware of the diagnosis, clinical manifestations, and rapid and potentially serious course of P. knowlesi malaria.” Earlier report: www.sciencedaily.com… Web address: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/
080115132850.htm Monkey Malaria Widespread In Humans And Potentially Fatal ScienceDaily (Jan. 17, 2008) — A potentially fatal species of malaria is being commonly misdiagnosed as a more benign form of the disease, thereby putting lives at risk, according to research funded by the Wellcome Trust and the University Malaysia Sarawak. Researchers in Malaysia studied more than 1,000 samples from malaria patients across the country. Using DNA-based technology they found that more than one in four patients in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, were infected with Plasmodium knowlesi, a malaria parasite of macaque monkeys, and that the disease was more widespread in Malaysia than previously thought. Infections were most often misdiagnosed as the normally uncomplicated human malaria caused by P. malariae. Malaria, which kills more than one million people each year, is caused when Plasmodium parasites are passed into the bloodstream from the salivary glands of mosquitoes. Some types, such as P. falciparum, found most commonly in Africa, are more deadly than others. P. malariae, found in tropical and sub-tropical regions across the globe, is often known as “benign malaria” as its symptoms are usually less serious than other types of malaria. Until recently, P. knowlesi, was thought to infect only monkeys, in particular long-tailed macaques found in the rainforests of South East Asia. Natural infections of man were thought to be rare until human infections were described in one area in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. However, in a study published today in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, Professors Janet Cox-Singh and Balbir Singh with colleagues at the University Malaysia Sarawak and three State Departments of Health in Malaysia have shown that knowlesi malaria is widespread in Malaysia. Under the microscope, the early parasite stages of P. knowlesi look very similar to P. falciparum, the most severe form of human malaria, while the later parasite stages are indistinguishable from the more benign P. malariae. Misdiagnosis as P. falciparum is clinically less important as P. falciparum infections are treated with a degree of urgency and P. knowlesi responds to the same treatment. However, misdiagnosis as the more benign slower growing parasite P. malariae is a problem. P. knowlesi is unprecedented among the malaria parasites of humans and non-human primates as it reproduces every 24 hours, and one of the features of fatal P. knowlesi infections is the high number of infected red blood cells in these patients. Therefore, even a short delay in accurate diagnosis and treatment could lead to the rapid onset of complications, including liver and kidney failure, and death. Using DNA detection methods, Professor Cox-Singh and colleagues found malaria infection with P. knowlesi to be widely distributed in Malaysian Borneo and mainland Malaysia, sometimes proving fatal. In addition, single human infections have been reported in Thailand and Myanmar. “I believe that if we look at malaria infections in South East Asia more carefully, we will find that this potentially fatal type of the disease is more widespread than is currently thought,” says Professor Cox-Singh. “Given the evident severity of the illness that it causes, I would recommend that doctors treating patients with a laboratory diagnosis of P. malariae remain alert to the possibility that they may be dealing with the potentially more aggressive P. knowlesi. This would be particularly important in patients who have spent time in the forest fringe areas of South East Asia where the non-human primate host exists.” Are you interested in what’s really going on in the world, behind the facade? Then…www.checktheevidence… happened on 9/11?www.drjudywood.com/
