A cheap, common heartworm medication that is already
being used to fight other parasites in Africa, could also
dramatically interrupt transmission of malaria, potentially
providing an inexpensive tool to fight a disease that kills
almost 800 000 people each year, according to a new study
published last week in the July edition of the American
Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The study by
scientists from Senegal and Colorado State University found
that transmission of malaria parasites by mosquitoes fell
substantially among people living in several Senegalese
villages over two weeks after they took the drug ivermectin,
which was administered as part of a campaign to fight the
parasitic roundworm that causes onchocerciasis, or river
blindness.
ALLAFRICA.COM
