New scientific proposals are emerging that aim to curb malaria by treating mosquitoes themselves rather than just targeting the insects with insecticides. The innovative approach involves giving mosquitoes malaria drugs that clear their infection, effectively preventing them from spreading the disease.
Malaria parasites, which cause nearly 600,000 deaths annually most of them children are transmitted by female mosquitoes when they feed on blood. Traditionally, efforts to control malaria have focused on killing mosquitoes using insecticides rather than curing the mosquitoes of their malaria infection.
However, researchers have now identified a pair of drugs that can successfully eliminate malaria parasites from mosquitoes when absorbed through their legs. The long-term goal is to coat bed nets with this drug combination, offering a new layer of protection against malaria transmission.
Using bed nets has been one of the most successful malaria prevention strategies, as the primary mosquitoes responsible for spreading malaria are nocturnal and typically bite during the night. These nets act as a physical barrier and are also treated with insecticides to kill mosquitoes that land on them.
Despite their success, insecticides on bed nets have become less effective due to widespread resistance among mosquito populations in many countries. This resistance reduces the insecticides’ ability to kill mosquitoes, diminishing the nets’ protective effect.
The new approach, which involves directly targeting the malaria parasites within the mosquitoes rather than killing the mosquitoes themselves, offers a promising alternative. Researchers conducted an extensive analysis of the malaria parasite’s DNA to identify potential vulnerabilities during the stage when it infects mosquitoes.
From a large library of candidate drugs, they narrowed the selection down to 22 potential options. These were tested by giving female mosquitoes a blood meal contaminated with malaria parasites and then observing the effects of the drugs.
In laboratory studies, two drugs stood out for their remarkable efficacy, killing 100% of the malaria parasites within the mosquitoes. These drugs were tested on materials resembling those used in bed nets, indicating that the method could be practically applied.
One of the significant advantages of this method is that even if a mosquito survives contact with the treated bed net, the parasites inside it are killed, meaning it cannot transmit malaria to humans. This two-pronged effect could greatly reduce malaria transmission rates.
Moreover, the malaria parasite is less likely to develop resistance to these drugs when targeting parasites inside mosquitoes. This is because the number of parasites in a mosquito is far smaller than in an infected person, making it harder for resistance mutations to arise.
Another benefit is the longevity of the drugs’ effect. The research shows that the anti-malaria treatment on the nets could remain effective for up to a year, potentially offering a cost-effective and durable alternative to insecticides alone.
While the laboratory results are promising, the next phase involves real-world testing. Plans are already in place to conduct trials in Ethiopia to determine whether bed nets treated with these anti-malaria drugs will be effective in field conditions.
It is anticipated that all studies and evaluations will take at least six years before the efficacy of this novel approach can be confirmed and potentially implemented on a larger scale.
Ultimately, the vision is to develop bed nets that are treated with both anti-malaria drugs and insecticides. This combined strategy could provide a robust defense, ensuring that if mosquitoes develop resistance to one method, the other will still offer protection.
This new direction represents an exciting breakthrough in the fight against malaria by shifting the focus from simply killing mosquitoes to directly targeting the parasites inside them, opening new avenues to reduce the global burden of this deadly disease.
