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Article: Researchers identify new way the malaria parasite and red blood cells interact.
- Article from:
- NewsRx Health & Science
- Article date:
- March 29, 2009
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Virginia Commonwealth University Life Sciences researchers have discovered a new mechanism the malaria parasite uses to enter human red blood cells, which could lead to the development of a vaccine cocktail to fight the mosquito-borne disease.
Malaria is transmitted to humans through bites from mosquitoes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 350 million and 500 million cases of malaria occur world-wide annually, and more than 1 million people, mostly children living in areas of Africa south of the Sahara, die each year from it.
For decades, researchers have known that a molecule called glycophorin B, which is found on the ...