
New drug for recurring malaria - DoreenMichele
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-44801139
======
sametmax
Important reminder:

\- The atovaquone/proguanil (e.g: Malarone) combo still works well. It's
affordable and widely available.

\- It's also __curative__, meaning it DOES destroy the plasmodium in the liver
(not just in the blood). The fact we are using it preventively often leads
people to think we still can't cure malaria. If you have malaria, go see a
tropical disease specialist to get rid of those nasty recurring episodes.

\- Any anti malaria drugs have very serious side effects, even if Malarone is
the nicest of all. If you end up living in a infected country for good, you
should really ponder how long it's acceptable to take it. In the end, both the
parasite and Malarone will attack your liver. Yeah, it sucks.

That being said, it's always good to have new options, if just to reduce the
chance of resistance. Chloroquine based drugs (e.g: Nivaquine) are pretty much
useless now because of it, and I don't know anybody who tried Mefloquine (e.g:
Lariam) that will ever go back to it.

~~~
thorin
I've had Lariam once or twice as Malarone used to be really expensive in the
UK (10$ vs 150$ ish) and I don't think I had any of the famous side effects.
It can be hard to tell when you're in a radically different country, very hot,
with strange food and drinking a lot...

~~~
wavefunction
Do not drink at all while taking Lariam, at least in my experience. I would
never take that crap again. I woke up on the side of a road where the police
had dropped me off right outside town after some moderate drinking, and I am a
heavy "partier."

Not only that but it brought out weird parts of my personality that aren't
normally more than background chatter I ignore in my daily life, like
grandiosity and melodramatic emotionality including severe melancholy.

~~~
thorin
Last time I took Larium was near the White Nile in Uganda for 3 weeks. The
beer there is pretty strong and people stay up late! During the trip I did
feel pretty lethargic, but it was very hot and I was very active so I didn't
blame the larium. No other symptoms. On other trips I've taken
Chloroquinine/Proaganol (this is what it's called in the UK anyway) and it was
fine, I think that is only useful in a few regions now though?

------
grecy
I've had malaria twice [1] [2] in the last 18 months while driving around
Africa, so this is great news for me. I wouldn't say I've had a full blown
recurrence, though I have never felt 100% since that first episode more than
18 months ago. I kind of just feel a bit crap all the time, once a month or so
a little worse than the rest of the time.

[1] [http://theroadchoseme.com/malaria](http://theroadchoseme.com/malaria)

[2] [http://theroadchoseme.com/malaria-round-
two](http://theroadchoseme.com/malaria-round-two)

------
vezycash
How much would it cost to build this?

* An electrified mosquito net.

* With guard rubber net large enough to let mosquitoes through to the execution chamber but small enough to prevent accidental self electrocution.

* battery/inverter source to allow all night protection.

SHAPE

1\. Box the bed completely

2\. Or a single board large enough to increase the likelihood of mosquitoes
running into it themselves.)

~~~
Aardwolf
Personally I'd be more interested in a mosquito laser:

* infrared high resolution camera with image recognition for mosquito as well as human eyes to avoid

* microphone that can detect the characteristic mosquito flying sound

* laser powerful enough to damage mosquito wings using microphone to detect general direction and camera to aim exactly at wings

* bonus: add something to attract mosquitoes towards it to bring them to closer range

Install in bedroom for a peaceful night. Or an outdoor version to protect an
entire village.

~~~
fredley
There are people working on this:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser)

Although nothing much seems to have happened in reality:

[https://www.fastcompany.com/3059127/what-happened-to-the-
mos...](https://www.fastcompany.com/3059127/what-happened-to-the-mosquito-
zapping-laser-that-was-going-to-stop-malaria)

