Warmer temperatures push malaria to higher elevations

[knocker]

 

Researchers have debated for more than two decades the likely impacts, if any, of global warming on the worldwide incidence of malaria, a mosquito-borne disease that infects more than 300 million people each year.

 

Now, University of Michigan ecologists and their colleagues are reporting the first hard evidence that malaria does—as had long been predicted—creep to higher elevations during warmer years and back down to lower altitudes when temperatures cool.

 

The study, based on an analysis of records from highland regions of Ethiopia and Colombia, suggests that future climate warming will result in a significant increase in malaria cases in densely populated regions of Africa and South America, unless disease monitoring and control efforts are boosted and sustained.

 

http://www.ns.umich.edu/new/releases/22032-warmer-temperatures-push-malaria-to-higher-elevations

 

But the good news.

 

New malaria vaccines roadmap targets next generation products by 2030

 

Partners agree approach for developing vaccines capable of reducing malaria cases by 75% and to enable malaria elimination.

 

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/notes/2013/malaria-vaccines-20131114/en/

Edited March 6, 2014 by knocker

[4wd]

More idiocy, malaria was widespread in in the past in swampy parts of England.Temperature is NOT a factor in its spread.Some of the worst places in the world for biting insects which can spread it is the high arctic.

[BornFromTheVoid]

More idiocy, malaria was widespread in in the past in swampy parts of England.Temperature is NOT a factor in its spread.Some of the worst places in the world for biting insects which can spread it is the high arctic.

Nobody is saying that temperature is the only factor in the spread of malaria, but do you honestly think it doesn't matter at all, 4? I realise that it's in your nature to disagree with anything that claims climate change has any effect, but could you provide evidence that temperature is not a factor? Or perhaps demonstrate what is wrong with the analysis in the study?

[knocker]

More idiocy, malaria was widespread in in the past in swampy parts of England.

Temperature is NOT a factor in its spread.

Some of the worst places in the world for biting insects which can spread it is the high arctic.

 

The fact that malaria was widespread in in the past in swampy parts of England is relevant why?

Temperature is NOT a factor in its spread. Already covered by BFTV.

Some of the worst places in the world for biting insects which can spread it is the high arctic. Not correct regarding the plasmodium parasite.

 

Malaria is caused by the plasmodium parasite. The parasite can be spread to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes.

 

There are many different types of plasmodium parasite, but only five types cause malaria in humans. These are:

• Plasmodium falciparum – mainly found in Africa, it is the most common type of malaria parasite and is responsible for most malaria deaths worldwide.
• Plasmodium vivax – mainly found in Asia and South America. This parasite causes milder symptoms than Plasmodium falciparum, but it can stay in the liver for up to three years, which can result in relapses.
• Plasmodium ovale – fairly uncommon and usually found in West Africa. It can remain in your liver for several years without producing symptoms.
• Plasmodium malariae – this is quite rare and usually only found in Africa.
• Plasmodium knowlesi – this is very rare and found in parts of South East Asia.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Malaria/Pages/causes.aspx

[Interitus]

A fascinating subject, and undeniably temperature does play a role - the key phase being during sporogeny while the parasite is within the mosquito. For P. vivax which affected Europe estimates of the minimum required temperature varies but may be about 14.5°C, and 16°C for P.falciparum - http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/content/4/1/92.

The lower the temperature, the slower the development so the minimum threshold needs to be maintained for typically >55 days, compared to 15-16 days at 20-21°C, 8-10 days at 28°C and 7-8 days at 30°C.

 

In a study based on the UK between 1840 and 1910, simulations suggest that a 1 degree rise was associated with an 8.5% increase in deaths, whilst a 1 degree decrease resulted in 6.5% fewer deaths - http://www.pnas.org/content/100/17/9997.full

 

But something which this study overlooked is that even outside of the natural normal range, the parasite can survive and prosper as the mosquito hibernates in homes and buildings, allowing it to even affect Russia and Scandinavia. Between 1800-70 it was thought to affect between 7-20% of the population of Finland, with an estimated total mortality of up to 3%, This includes within the Arctic circle where it became endemic in as far as 68°N! - http://www.malariajournal.com/content/4/1/19

Edited March 18, 2014 by Interitus

[knocker]

On this subject this may be of interest.

 

The Parasite that Escaped Out of Africa: Origin of Deadly Human Malaria Parasite Linked to Primates in Africa, not Asia, as Once Thought, according to Penn-led Study

 

An international team of scientists has traced the origin of Plasmodium vivax, the second-worst malaria parasite of humans, to Africa, according to a study published this week in Nature Communications. Until recently, the closest genetic relatives of human P. vivax were found only in Asian macaques, leading researchers to believe that P. vivax originated in Asia.

 

http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/02/hahn/

Edited March 20, 2014 by knocker