For the first time in more than 60 years there is a new treatment for malaria caused by the P. vivax parasite. Most cases of this type of malaria are found in South America and Southeast Asia.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Pleul
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The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new single-dose treatment to prevent relapses of one of the most dominant types of malaria.
The new drug, Krintafel, only targets the kind of malaria caused by the P. vivax parasite that mainly occurs in South America and Southeast Asia, with about 8.5 million infections annually. Most malaria cases and deaths occur in Africa and involve another species.
British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Swiss Medicines for Malaria Venture developed the drug.
In testing, one dose of Krintafel had about the same effect as two weeks of the standard treatment, preventing relapses in about three-quarters of patients over six months, the company said.
Malaria is caused by parasites that are spread to humans through mosquito bites. The initial infection can be cured with anti-malarial drugs but parasites can get into the liver and remain there in a dormant form, which can cause recurrences months or even years later. A second drug is used to stop relapses.
'A significant milestone'
Dr. Hal Barron, chief scientific officer and president of research and development for GSK, said: "Today's approval of Krintafel, the first new treatment for Plasmodium vivax malaria in over 60 years, is a significant milestone for people living with this type of relapsing malaria."
The drug has been approved for patients 16 and older who are receiving appropriate antimalarial therapy for acute P. vivax infection and it is the first new treatment for this type of malaria in more than 60 years, GlaxoSmithKline said.
The company will soon apply for approval in Brazil and then other countries where the malaria type is common. It says it will sell the pills at low cost in low-income countries.
Malaria infects more than 200 million people globally per year and kills about half a million, most of them children in Africa. It causes fever, headache, chills and other flu-like symptoms.
Sharks and scorpions? The world's deadliest animals aren't what you thought
People are terrified of sharks but when you look at the number of people actually killed by them, you realize that the truly dangerous killers are others.
Image: AP
11. Sharks / wolves
People killed each year: around ten. Sharks and wolves scare many people. And there is no doubt that wolves and some shark species can kill you. But very few of them actually do. Each year there are only around ten deaths caused by either species throughout the world. You have a bigger chance of being killed by your toaster.
Image: AP
10. Lions / elephants
People killed each year: around 100. That you could be killed by a lion doesn't seem far-fetched and it does happen. Perhaps more surprising is that your chances of falling victim to an elephant are just as high. The world's largest land animal can be quite aggressive and once it becomes enraged, it certainly has the mass and strength to be dangerous.
Image: picture alliance / blickwinkel/D. u. M. Sheldon
9. Hippopotamus
People killed each year: around 500. There are countless children's toys in the shape of hippos and why wouldn't there be? They look cute with their puffy snouts and stocky builds. And they are herbivores. But don't let that fool you. They are territorial and quite aggressive and don't need provocation to come after you, so steer clear if you can.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa-Zentralbild
8. Crocodiles
People killed each year: around 1,000. Many people are probably just as scared of crocodiles as they are of sharks or lions and rightfully so. Crocodiles are carnivores and kill prey sometimes much larger than themselves including small hippos, water buffalo and, in the case of saltwater crocodiles, even sharks.
Image: Fotolia/amnachphoto
7. Tapeworms
People killed each year: around 2000. Tapeworms are parasitic flatworms that live in the digestive tracts of all sorts of vertebrates ranging from whales to mice, and humans as well. They usually find their way into our bodies as eggs or larvae via contaminated food. The infection can be treated with medication but the parasites still kill 200 times as many people as sharks do.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Loznak
6. Ascaris roundworms
People killed each year: around 2,500. Ascaris worms are another parasite contracted in a way similar to tapeworms. But they don't stay in the intestinal tract. Once the eggs hatch, they burrow through the gut wall, travel to the lungs, up the windpipe, are coughed up and swallowed again to return to the intestine where they grow into adults. Ascariasis affects around 1 billion people worldwide.
People killed each year: around 10,000. Tied in fifth place are three killers with a death toll of 10,000 each. Although to be fair, it's not the animals that are the killers here, but the parasites they carry. Schistosomiasis can be contracted from contaminated water, Chagas disease and sleeping sickness through insect bites. So make sure to bring bug repellant when you visit affected areas.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
4. Dog (rabies)
People killed each year: around 25,000. Rabies is a viral infection that can be contracted from many different animals but in countries where rabies is common among dogs, humans get it from them in 99 percent of cases. And rabies is sneaky. It can take months for symptoms to show and when they do, the disease is almost always fatal. The good news is that both dogs and humans can be vaccinated.
Image: picture-alliance/ZB/B. Wüstneck
3. Snakes
People killed each year: around 50,000. Yes: In case of doubt, steer clear of snakes. Many species aren't deadly, some aren't venomous at all but there are enough deadly snakes to make these reptiles the world's third biggest killer.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/blickwinkel/B. Trapp
2. Humans
People killed each year: around 475,000. Yes, we made the list, too. After all, we are incredibly creative when it comes to finding ways to kill each other. This earns us the sad honor of second place amongst the killers of man.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
1. Mosquitoes
People killed each year: around 725,000. In places like Germany, they are just a nuisance, elsewhere they can be harbingers of death. And again it is the diseases they carry, not the animals themselves that kill. Malaria alone kills about 600,000 people a year. Dengue fever, yellow fever and encephalitis are transmitted by mosquitoes too, making the tiny insects the world's biggest killers.
