Home » Science & Nature » Microbiology » New Way to Kill Malaria Parasites

New Way to Kill Malaria Parasites

© Neal Rolfe Chamberlain

The plot of many science fiction novels includes a surprise attack on earth by a technologically superior alien army intent on taking over the world. The aliens are very successful initially and wipe out all of earth's defenses. Just as they are about to conquer earth once and for all they suddenly start rapidly dying off. Alien land vehicles stop dead in their tracks. Spaceships rapidly disappear from the sky or fall to earth and crash.

Usually, a team of physicians inspect the dead or dying aliens to learn that something as simple as a common cold virus is killing these nasty invaders. Having never seen this virus before, the aliens' bodies are helpless to combat the infection, which causes rapid death.

Sometimes science fiction plots are real life dramas we see happening everyday. Approximately 300-500 million people in the world are infected with a life form alien to their bodies every year. More than one million people die each year from these nasty aliens' attempts to rule the world. Unfortunately, most of those who die are under five years of age.

The aliens in this case are a parasite in the genus Plasmodium and they cause a disease called malaria. Malaria is present in over 100 countries. More than 40 percent of the world's population is at risk of getting this disease. It is most common in countries in the tropical and subtropical parts of the world. Nearly all the cases of malaria reported in people in Europe and North America are due to those people coming back to their home country after travel to a country that has malaria (malaria is said to be endemic in those countries). However, over 1,200 cases of malaria are diagnosed in the United States each year.

Malaria is acquired by being bitten by a mosquito that is infected with the Plasmodium parasite. The parasites go from the mosquito’s saliva glands to their mouth and then into the person’s blood. The parasites are taken by the blood to the person’s liver. Once in the liver the parasite will grow and multiply. A person will feel fine while all this is going on, with the exception of the itchy mosquito bite.

Eventually, the parasites leave the liver and enter red blood cells. This can take as little as eight days or up to several months. Once inside the red blood cells, the parasites grow and multiply. When enough parasite multiplication has gone on they will burst the cells. This frees the parasites to attack other red blood cells.