Infectious Disease Blog

How far would you go to earn $4,000?

Some people in the Seattle area may go so far as to become infected with malaria.

The Seattle Biomedical Research Institute will pay volunteers up to $4,000 to be bitten by mosquitoes infected with malaria, according to the Seattle Times.

Scientists pointed out that the trials will not be life-threatening, as the malaria strain used in the study can be quickly cured. The purpose of the trials will be to test which malaria vaccines work fastest.

Dr. Patrick Duffy, head of SBRI’s malaria research programs, told the Seattle Times:

“It’s really important for people to understand how well-controlled this process is. The disease follows a predictable course, and it’s treated very early — as soon as parasites show up in the blood.”

Bloggers and forums have picked up on this story and generated quite an online discussion. There’s been a decent response on Current TV. While some people want to sign up, others were skeptical.

The blogger of The Good Human definitely wouldn’t do it:

“I think this shows that some medical studies are going a little too far, but if you want to participate, there is a study taking place up in Seattle that will pay you $4,000 to be infected with malaria. Yikes. Personally, no amount of money is worth jeopardizing my health, even if they claim it is “controlled”. Allow myself to be bitten by an infected mosquito? No thanks…”

What do you think? Would you get infected with malaria for money?

Two malaria drugs produced by GlaxoSmithKline are being scrapped because they may lead to anemia.

While yanking these drugs from the market is a setback in the fight malaria, there are numerous drugs out there that treat the disease, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Health officials hope to promote price competition and give doctors more treatment options.

The two drugs pulled were Lapdap and Dacart, an experimental pill still in development.

Both of the drugs appear to lower hemoglobin levels in the blood of some patients, which can lead to anemia.

As About.com’s Infectious Disease blogger Anna Spector pointed out:

Malaria itself causes anemia, but Dacart causes anemia in those who have a hereditary enzyme disorder that estimated to affect 10-25 percent of all Africans.

A glimmer of hope shined through this week in the battle against malaria. A new malaria vaccine showed promise in a small test trial in Mali.

Researchers said the vaccine was safe and elicited strong immune responses from the 40 adults who participated in the trial.

The vaccine was designed to block the malaria parasite from entering blood cells. This was the first test of the vaccine in a malaria-endemic country. The research team is now conducting the next trial in 400 Malian children ranging in age from 1 to 6.

According to the Malaria Vaccine Initiative, the ideal malaria vaccine would be:

safe

easy to manufacture

easy to administer

when administered in infancy, confer life-long immunity against all forms of the disease

Many vaccine candidates fail during development, making the process an expensive and financially risky venture. With malaria infecting 350 million to 500 million people each year and killing over one million, the need for a malaria vaccine is urgent. Most of the victims are young children in sub-Saharan Africa.