5 ms·
Given that malaron can actually cure Malaria (and not just prevent it as most people think) by killing the plasmodium directly in the liver, I think all the mon
by sametmax 8y ago
Given that malaron can actually cure Malaria (and not just prevent it as most people think) by killing the plasmodium directly in the liver, I think all the money for all the projects against malaria would be better invested in creating a dedicated african run factory to make those locally and cheap.
Or planting a lot of Artemisia annua, since both the CNRS and the Gates foundation now recognize this plant is a good alternative.
Ending malaria may take decades. We can prevent millions of people from dying now.
- bilbo0s 8y agoI think you're talking about Malarone. It only gets rid of malaria in the red blood cells. Oftentimes it is prescribed in concert with other medications, like primaquine or something for that reason. In any case, malaria can infect you despite having taken Malarone. It can come back, or even persist, after having taken Malarone. It's a good treatment, but malaria is a persistent little devil.
- sametmax 8y agoI have Malaria. I went to the Pasteur institute for a diagnosis (which is basically the NASA of french biology) and saw a specialist in tropical diseases there. The doctors nicely explained to me that the mix of Atovaquone–Proguanil does attack the parasite in the liver, not just in the blood cell, and that they had protocols to cure it.
- miduil 8y agoGet well soon, glad you have proper treatment availble!
- tzumby 8y agoAlso Malerone is not good on your liver and does not give you 100% protection. I honestly never took my malerone while I travelled in a Malaria risk zone based on the stories I heard about the side effects.
- djsumdog 8y agoI'm not sure if it was Malerone, but I think some Malaria prevention treatments before travelling to Asia in the late 90s. It had some pretty bad side-effects. I didn't get the weird dreams, but it affected my body enough that I just stopped talking it.
- sametmax 8y agoYes, how do you think I got malaria in the first place ? I stopped Malarone after 3 months like everyone on site. Nobody wants to get damage organs. Lariam was worse though, it attacked the brain.
- Fomite 8y agoSo...a couple issues with this: - You'd have to commit to doing that forever. Malaria is ridiculously hard to eradicate without going after the vectors, and you'd have to be providing a continual course of it. You're not talking about "An African run factory to make this cheap" - you're talking about a robust continent wide distribution system. That's not an easy thing to do. I've run into these kinds of problems all the time thinking about interventions in Africa - a lot of them posit an availability of infrastructure that isn't there. - The combination of drugs in Malaron slows the development of resistance, but doesn't stop it. What's your plan for drug resistant malaria? We're already preventing millions of people from dying now. This isn't an all or nothing campaign.