Health briefs

Nov 09, 2005

<b>Mosquito gene spray</b><br>MALARIA: Scientists have found a gene that shields mosquitoes against the malaria parasite. They say the discovery could help create a chemical spray to protect humans from the disease.

Mosquito gene spray
MALARIA: Scientists have found a gene that shields mosquitoes against the malaria parasite. They say the discovery could help create a chemical spray to protect humans from the disease. The researchers, from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, say the sprn6 gene is only switched on when mosquitoes harbour the malaria parasite. Once activated, the gene helps limit the number of parasites the mosquito carries. The team hopes to develop a chemical spray that would enhance activation of the gene.

Vaccine is working
PNEUMONIA: The rate of pneumonia in older adults has decreased because of the use of the conjugate pneumococcal vaccine in children, according to the results of a study published in the October issue of JAMA. The conjugate vaccine targets seven pneumococcal serotypes and was licensed for young children in 2000. The authors conducted a population-based surveillance of invasive pneumococcal disease in the US from 1998-2003. The incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease in adults aged 50 or older decreased by 55%.

Breathe slowly
HYPERTENSION: In patients with essential hypertension, slowing respiration to six breaths per minute enhances baroreflex sensitivity and reduces blood pressure, investigators explain in the October issue of Hypertension. Dr. Luciano Bernardi and colleagues from the University of Pavia, Italy tested 20 patients with essential hypertension and concluded that slow breathing had the effect of acutely normalising the baroreflex sensitivity. This proved the potential to be a simple and inexpensive method to improve autonomic balance and respiratory control and reduce blood pressure in hypertensive patients.

Ecstasy risky
IMMUNITY: Clubbers using ecstasy to keep them dancing through the night may be damaging their immune systems. Dr. Thomas Connor, a neuroscientist from Trinity College Dublin said depression induced by the drug is also more difficult to treat. Developed as an appetite suppressant but now used at nightclubs to reduce inhibitions, ecstasy has been linked to psychiatric illnesses and may also put an individual’s physical health at risk. Connor told journalists at the annual festival of British Association for the Advancement of Science that evidence so far suggests that two tablets can weaken the body’s natural defenses lasting up to 48 hours. The long-term impact on the immune system has not yet been studied but the potential is there for damage in hard-core users.

Vaccine approved
PNEUMONIA: A whooping cough booster vaccine has been approved to offer later-life protection against a disease that can be a menace to adults, adolescents and children. The new vaccine combines protection against pertussis, as whooping cough is called, with that for tetanus and diphtheria, the last diseases already subject to post-childhood booster shots. The new vaccine safely “elicited robust immune responses in adolescents and adults to pertussis, tetanus, and diphtheria” the study added.

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