Malaria in India: The Center for the Study of Complex Malaria in India

Abstract

Malaria is a major public health problem in India and one which contributes significantly to the overall malaria burden in Southeast Asia. The National Vector Borne Disease Control Program of India reported ~1.6 million cases and ~1100 malaria deaths in 2009. Some experts argue that this is a serious underestimation and that the actual number of malaria cases per year is likely between 9 and 50 times greater, with an approximate 13-fold underestimation of malaria-related mortality. The difficulty in making these estimations is further exacerbated by (i) highly variable malaria eco-epidemiological profiles, (ii) the transmission and overlap of multiple Plasmodium species and Anopheles vectors, (iii) increasing antimalarial drug resistance and insecticide resistance, and (iv) the impact of climate change on each of these variables. Simply stated, the burden of malaria in India is complex. Here we describe plans for a Center for the Study of Complex Malaria in India (CSCMi), one of ten International Centers of Excellence in Malaria Research (ICEMRs) located in malarious regions of the world recently funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health. The CSCMi is a close partnership between Indian and United States scientists, and aims to address major gaps in our understanding of the complexity of malaria in India, including changing patterns of epidemiology, vector biology and control, drug resistance, and parasite genomics. We hope that such a multidisciplinary approach that integrates clinical and field studies with laboratory, molecular, and genomic methods will provide a powerful combination for malaria control and prevention in India.

The knowledge, attitude and practices regarding commonly occurring mosquito borne diseases among people in catering area of urban health and training centre

“…3 Recently, it has been suggested that VBDs incidence is between 9 and 50 times greater than reported with approximately 13 fold under estimation of malaria-related mortality. 4 The failure to cap the resurgence of VBDs and the continuing increased incidence of them is warranting a more proactive approach for their prevention.…”

Renal cortical necrosis and acute kidney injury associated with Plasmodium vivax: a neglected human malaria parasite

“…Acidosis, cerebral involvement, renal impairment, and chronic illness were key independent predictors for a poor outcome in African children with severe malaria (von Seidlein et al 2012). The current case data is included in our recent case series publication on P. vivax-associated AKI (Kute et al 2012) The multidisciplinary approach that integrates clinical and field studies with laboratory, molecular, and genomic methods will provide a powerful combination for malaria control and prevention in India (Srivastava and Yadav 2000;Yadav et al 1998;Das et al 2012). …”

Intracerebral bleed, right haemiparesis and seizures: an atypical presentation ofvivaxmalaria

“…This facilitates the parasite to escape the host protective immunity, furthermore the development of drug resistance. Efforts are in progress to develop newer genetic sequencing technologies to identify early treatment failure with chloroquine in vivax malaria 10. As per the 2012 WHO recommendation artesunate combination therapy are recommended especially in areas of documented chloroquine resistance for rapid and effective clearance of P. vivax along with a 14-day course of primaquine 11…”