The malaria wars

摘要

Malaria has a long history and a deadly present: every year it kills as many as 1 million people, mostly children in sub-Saharan Africa. Over the past decade, mortality from the dis­ease -caused by the Plasmodium parasite transmitted by mosquitoes - has been cut through the use of bed nets and other public-health measures championed by the World Health Organization's Roll Back Malaria campaign, among others. The effectiveness of such measures may have plateaued, however, and the disease is becoming resistant to drugs such as arte-misinin-based therapies. In 2015， the first vaccine (GlaxoSmithKline's RTS,S) will be considered for approval in Africa. It confers 30-50% protection that wanes over time. Given all that, insights into historical grap-plings with the disease are highly useful.