New malaria rapid test developed

New malaria rapid test developed

09/03/2014

Malaria causes more than 600,000 deaths worldwide each year. There is no vaccine against the dangerous tropical disease. But with a new malaria rapid test in the future, infections will be detected within minutes.

Proof of infection within a few minutes

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), malaria causes more than 600,000 deaths each year. A vaccine against the dangerous, tropical infectious disease does not yet exist. But in the fight against the disease, research has now come a step further. For example, a news agency dpa reports that a new approach to a rapid malaria test can detect infection within a few minutes. Accordingly, a metabolic product of the pathogen, hemozoin, is used for the test. This report the scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge in the journal „Nature Medicine“.

Less prone to human error

The infection is detectable with the portable system even with less than ten parasites per microliter of blood. Accordingly, only tiny amounts of blood are needed for the test. In addition, this is less prone to human error than conventional methods and, unlike those without chemicals for the preparation of the samples. The researchers used the so-called MR-relaxometry, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), to detect hemozoin pigments. By means of strong magnetic fields certain molecules in the body are excited and as a result, an electrical signal is triggered in a receiver circuit. The developed system is unlike the large MRI devices in such clinics so small that it could be used well in mobile laboratories.

Approach must prove itself in further test series

The scientists demonstrated the potential of the method with human blood and the pathogen Plasmodium falciparum, which causes the particularly dangerous malaria tropica. The system was additionally tested on Plasmodium berghei infected mice. With the test, the infection has been detected at an early stage. And in less than five minutes, as the researchers write. However, the approach has to prove itself in further test series before it could actually be used. Currently, especially the electronics and the magnet system are still expensive. The scientists believe, however, that it is feasible to produce the devices in the future for the unit price of less than $ 2,000.

Resistance complicates fight against malaria

In the future, for example, the new method could be used to generate clinical predictions, monitor emerging resistance to malaria drugs, and determine the severity of an infection. Such resistance enormously complicates the fight against the tropical disease. Just a month ago, it was reported that a resistant malaria virus is spreading in Southeast Asia. Elizabeth Ashley of the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) said at the time that urgent action was needed, „to prevent the spread of resistance from Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh and India.“ (Ad)