Call for an instant quote 0345 90 80 161
Open Mon to Fri 09:00 - 17:30 | Sat 09:00 - 16:00 (GMT)
18 October 2012 09:37
Once humans contract malaria from a mosquito bite, they can act as a carrier if bitten by uninfected insects, which then spread it to other people
A study has shed new light on how malaria is transmitted via human hosts by monitoring the movement of millions of people in Kenya through their cellphones. The disease is responsible for the deaths of nearly a million people a year but can be successfully overcome with the right treatment, as was the case with its best-known recent victims, African footballers Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast and Lomana Lua Lua from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Malaria is usually associated with the bite of infected female mosquitoes - but once humans contract the disease, they can act as a carrier if they are bitten by uninfected insects, which then spread the disease to other people.
Researchers from Pennsylvania, United States, used data from the cellphones of nearly 15 million Kenyans and compared it with population distribution and malaria prevalence, to create, for the first time, a map of large-scale trends in the spread of the disease. The team, led by Amy Wesolowski at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, mapped every call or text to its local cellphone tower.
The results offered an explanation for malaria hotspots in Kenya's western highlands and the suburbs of Nairobi. In general, the researchers found that areas with the highest malaria risk contained the most-travelled people. This information also offers a timely reminder of the importance of pre-existing medical travel insurance for people travelling to and around Africa. The findings suggest merely controlling the mosquito population will not be enough to combat malaria and effort should also focus on transmission by humans.
21 September 2018
UK holidaymakers could be missing out on more than 60 direct flight routes thanks to Air Passenger Duty (APD), a report suggests.
[more...]
20 September 2018
Living in areas with high levels of air pollution could be linked to an increased risk of dementia, new research suggests.
19 September 2018
Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients are shelling out tens of thousands of pounds for care - and many are unable to cover the costs, a leading charity has warned.
18 September 2018
As much as £6 of every £10 spent on domestic flights in the UK goes on Air Passenger Duty (APD), new research suggests.
15 September 2018
UK driving licences might become invalid in certain European countries if the UK crashes out of the EU with no deal, the Government has warned.
14 September 2018
Online crowdfunding for cancer treatments is indirectly advancing the rise of alternative "quack" therapies, experts have warned.
13 September 2018
A "wee-stick" like those used in pregnancy testing could be employed to prevent thousands of deaths from ovarian cancer.
11 September 2018
As many as 1.3 million passengers endured severe flight delays in the last year, a new study reveals.
08 September 2018
British Airways customers are cancelling their credit cards after the carrier was hit by a 15-day data breach that compromised the details of around 380,000 people.
06 September 2018
Plastic trays at security desks harbour the highest numbers of viruses at airports, new research has discovered.
05 September 2018
Adults are being urged to take advantage of a new online tool to find out if they are at risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
04 September 2018
Child cancer patients regularly have to travel twice as far and pay out twice as much when getting treatment, new data shows.