Jun 28, 2020
Professor Vythilingam started
working with parasitic diseases in the early 1980s and now studies
the recent upsurge in Plasmodium knowlesi in humans, which is a malaria originating in
monkey hosts.
In this podcast, she discusses
- How scientists traced the different Plasmodium species to discover that humans were being infected with this simian malaria that originates from different parasites,
- Why it's important that Malaysian mosquitos have adapted to biting in the early evening outdoors instead of indoors late at night, and
- How researchers and the Malaysian government are working together to find a solution to stopping these parasites.
Indra Vythilingam is a professor of parasitology at the University of Malaya. Malaria is not a virus; rather, it's a disease caused by a parasite of the Plasmodium species that follows a host and vector life cycle. She started working on malaria the early 80s. In the early 1990s, she worked on a study with insecticide-treated mosquito nets, proving their efficacy. However, in the years since, malaria-infected mosquitoes have adapted their behaviors and evolved in Malaysia to bite earlier in the evening and outdoors.
Furthermore, she explains that
malaria is traveling from monkeys to mosquitos to people in
Malaysia, a discovery made in 2004. Previously it was thought that
humans could only catch malaria from a few specific species thought
of as the human malaria
parasites. However, a 2004 paper showed the simian
parasite, Plasmodium
knowlesi, had been
transmitted to humans.
Professor Vythilingam explains that the human malaria has been
almost eradicated from the area, but they now have this difficult
development to face. She discusses what measures she and her
colleagues are hoping to take after the COVID-19 virus pandemic
slows enough to allow them to return to the field.
For more information, search for
Indra Vythilingam in Google Scholar and other such
research-accruing sites.
Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK