JANUARY 5, 20194:49

A world first diagnostic saliva test for malaria is on the horizon. The saliva-based diagnostic tool, to be marketed by ERADA as a Saliva-based Malaria Asymptomatic and Asexual Rapid Test (SMAART) for subclinical infection, is set to transform malaria detection worldwide.

[b]Malaria, globally, kills an estimated 435,000 each year, mostly children under the age of five, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa.[!b] The SMAART detection tool is the invention of US based researchers in the field of malaria diagnostics according to a publication in Science Translational Medicine. ERADA’s innovative solution is easy- to-use, as it includes a simple device for standardized collection of saliva that can be implemented in the community by health care professionals, teachers and parents; contrasting with invasive blood tests, which must be administered by trained clinicians. Other drawbacks to blood tests include cultural ‘blood taboos’ existing in many countries whilst, furthermore, skin-prick tests are often stressful for children and parents.

The SMAART detection tool works by detecting a novel biomarker for Plasmodium falciparum parasites. In some areas of the world, the parasites have acquired a mutation and are therefore no longer detected by current blood-based tests. But ERADA’s saliva test detects an essential protein the parasite needs for survival, which should avoid the problem of influence from the mutation and keep the test effective long-term. “As someone who has suffered from malaria, I know first-hand that if the parasite had been detected early, I could have been treated and cured before the symptoms of the disease made me unwell,” Dr Benji Pretorius, ERADA’s founder and Managing Director says.”

“As a practicing clinician myself and following my personal experience of this debilitating disease, I was spurred on to work with my colleague Dr Richard Schmidt in our small community, Musina, in South Africa, together with a global team of scientists. Our vision is to bring to market ERADA’s SMAART diagnostic tool as quickly as possible in the belief that it will go on to save literally millions of lives in the future.” “The introduction of SMAART is going to play a major part in achieving effective diagnostic testing and surveillance; as well as prevention and treatment of this disease, and therefore will be a major catalyst in meeting the WHO’s 2030 target to reduce malaria incidence and mortality by 90% ,” Dr Pretorius says.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/01/new-saliva-diagnostic-test-helps-eliminate-malaria/

Malaria Fact Sheet

The malaria parasite was first discovered by a French army surgeon stationed in Algeria in 1880

Malaria is an endemic disease affecting about, with half the world population at risk chiefly in large areas of Africa and South Asia and parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Ocean. However, only fifteen countries carry 80% of the burden. Fourteen of these are in tropical Africa.

. According to the latest World malaria report, released in November 2018, there were 219 million cases of malaria in 2017, up from 217 million cases in 2016. The estimated number of malaria deaths stood at 435 000 in 2017.

Malaria is preventable and treatable. The majority of these new cases and 90% of the resulting deaths occur in Africa. Uganda, for example, reported the highest number of new infections with 10.3 million. This figure is followed by Ghana with 8.8 million and another 6.3 million in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Malaria is mos prevalent in Africa because of the prevalence of the most dangerous parasite Plasmodium falciparum as well as the prevalence of the most effective vector, the Anopheles gambiae mosquito. ( double wahala)

The six highest burden countries in the WHO African region (in order of estimated number of cases) are: Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique and Cote d’Ivoire. These six countries account for an estimated 103 million (or 47%) of malaria cases.
In South East Asia, the second most affected region in the world, India has the highest malaria burden (with an estimated 24 million cases per year), followed by Indonesia and Myanmar.

Antimalarial drug resistance is a major concern for the global effort to control malaria. P. falciparum resistance to artemisinins has been detected but the ACTs still remain highly effective in almost all settings, so long as the partner drug in the combination is locally effective.