Africans Can Now Perform Malaria Test At Home Using Urine

Africans Can Now Perform Malaria Test At Home Using Urine

A new single step method for carrying out malaria test has been developed by a team of Nigerian scientists.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by parasitic protozoans (a group of single-celled microorganisms) belonging to the Plasmodium type. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, fatigue, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause yellow skin, seizures, coma, or death. (Caraballo, 2014). Symptoms usually begin ten to fifteen days after being bitten. If not properly treated, people may have recurrences of the disease months later. (Malaria fact sheet, 2014) 

The disease is most commonly transmitted by an infected female Anopheles mosquito. The mosquito bite introduces the parasites from the mosquito's saliva into a person's blood. (Malaria fact sheet, 2014)  The parasites travel to the liver where they mature and reproduce. Five species of Plasmodium can infect and be spread by humans. (Caraballo, 2014).  Most deaths are caused by P. falciparum because P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. malaria generally cause a milder form of malaria (Malaria fact sheet, 2014; Caraballo, 2014). 

The species P. Knowles rarely causes disease in humans (Malaria fact sheet, 2014). Malaria is typically diagnosed by the microscopic examination of blood using blood films, or with antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests (Caraballo, 2014). Methods that use the polymerase chain reaction to detect the parasite's DNA have been developed but are not widely used in areas where malaria is common due to their cost and complexity.

The risk of disease can be reduced by preventing mosquito bites by using mosquito nets and insect repellents, or with mosquito-control measures such as spraying insecticides and draining standing water. (Caraballo, 2014) Several medications are available to prevent malaria in travellers to areas where the disease is common. Occasional doses of the medication sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine are recommended in infants and after the first trimester of pregnancy in areas with high rates of malaria. Despite a need, no effective vaccine exists, although efforts to develop one are ongoing (Malaria fact sheet, 2014). The recommended treatment for malaria is a combination of antimalarial medications that includes an artemisinin  (Malaria fact sheet, Caraballo 2014). The second medication may be either mefloquine, lumefantrine, or sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine.  Quinine along with  doxycycline may be used if an artemisinin is not available. It is recommended that in areas where the disease is common, malaria is confirmed if possible before treatment is started due to concerns of increasing drug resistance. Resistance among the parasites has developed to several antimalarial medications; for example, chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum has spread to most malarial areas, and resistance to artemisinin has become a problem in some parts of Southeast Asia (Malaria fact sheet, 2014).

Enough of the history of Malaria and what havoc it causes in the life of people. There is a new method of detecting whether one is affected by Malaria or not. Most Africans tend to believe that once they are sick, the next thing is malaria. Now there is a new method that makes use of urine and not blood to determine if an individual is infected with malaria.

This method shows how it is the first time urine will be used for carrying out malaria parasite test.

Eddy Agbo, the founder of Fyodor, the biotechnology firm that developed the urine test kit, described as a major milestone, the fact that people can now test themselves for the disease without involving a health personnel.

Agbo described the process as one step similar to carrying out a pregnancy test. He said, “You just dip [a thread] in the sample, leave it there for 25 minutes and read the result.”

A line shows on the strip if one is infected with the parasite.

Experts expressed optimism that with the advent of the new testing method, the populace will desist from taking antimalarial drugs when they are not infected with the parasite.

An estimated 400,000 people die from the scourge of malaria every year.

Sources

1.    Nadjm B, Behrens RH (2012). "Malaria: An update for physicians".Infectious Disease Clinics of North America 26 (2): 243-59.

      DOI:10.1016/j.idc.2012.03.010. PMID 22632637.

2.  Organization, World Health (2010). Guidelines for the treatment of malaria (2nd ed.). Geneva: World Health Organization. p. ix. ISBN 9789241547925.

3. http://healthmagng.com/nigerians-can-now-perform-malaria-test-home-using-urine/