A drug that inoculates in the blood a venom for transmitting mosquitoes this idea, that of using the human body itself to kill these paludism vectors and reduce this is the one behind a new study published on Wednesday night in this, it is the greatest investigation to date where the potential of the ivermectin drug is examined as a complementary tool for the control of malaria.
The project, coordinated by the Global Health Institute of Barcelona (ISGLOBAL), in collaboration with the Manhiça Health Research Center and the Kemri-Wellcome Trust Research Program and, showed that the Ivermectin combined with the use of Mosquiteras managed to reduce the new malaria infections by 26%. This antiparasitic drug, used to deal with as the Y, has proven to be able to reduce the transmission of malaria by killing mosquitoes that feed on people treated with this medication.
The clinical trial once administered 400 micrograms for three months for each kilogram of this drug to 28,932 children between 5 and 15 years in Kwale, a Kenyan coastal county with a high malaria load. The test supplied more than 56,000 treatments at the beginning of the. “That is the time when mosquitoes reproduce exponentially, but if you manage to catch them at the beginning, it is possible that you have that curve that goes up and then decreases the transmission,” explains in an interview by video call Carlos Chaccour, the main coinvestigator of Bohemia and Isglobal researcher at the time of the study. After three months, the results were promising: the children who received Ivermectina presented a 26% reduction in the incidence of malaria compared to those who received albendazole, the control drug used in the study.
Children who received Ivermectin presented a 26% reduction in the incidence of malaria compared to those who received albendazole, the control drug used in the study
The scientist, who currently works at the International Development Center of the University of Navarra, explains that, between 2000 and 2015, initiatives such as mosquito nets treated with insecticides or intra -domiciliary spray largely reduced mortality by malaria. But, since then, advances have stagnated for reasons such as the appearance of, changes in insect behavior and. According to, in 2023 there were 263 million new cases and 597,000 deaths from this disease, 95% of them in Africa.
“Therefore, something that allows you to kill mosquitoes, regardless of the schedule or place where they pile, is interesting as a mass distribution strategy,” he says. The researcher adds that this method “is not a silver bullet”, but an additional tool that also has the advantage that you wear it. “You can infect yourself, there is no individual protection. But the mosquitoes that bite me do not bite my children. The individual benefit is given by an improvement of malaria in my community,” he explains.
The analysis also concludes that the use of ivermectin has other direct benefits for the population, in addition to its traditional use, since it decreases the scabies, the lice, is good for intestinal parasites and kills the bedgins. “This research has the potential to transform the future of malaria prevention, especially in endemic regions where current tools are losing effectiveness,” concludes in a statement Regina Rabinovich, principal investigator of Bohemia and director of the
Among the limitations, Chaccour mentions that it is a study conducted only in children and also under clinical trial conditions. “Therefore, you are always on top of the people and very aware that everyone takes [el fármaco]. It still needs to know how it works from the operational point of view: if you start it in a country and distribute it to everyone, ”he explains.
This research has the potential to transform the future of malaria prevention, especially in endemic regions where current tools are losing effectiveness
Regina Rabinovich, principal researcher at Bohemia and director of the initiative for the elimination of Isglobal malaria
In addition, the original idea was to drive two clinical trials at the same time, that of Kenya and one in Mozambique, in the Rural District of Mopeia. However, its implementation was severely affected in 2022 by the Gombe cyclone and a posterior cholera outbreak, which significantly interrupted operations. The Mozambique study is now in a review phase, but, according to Chaccour, its findings are not interpretable because it wanted to reach 64% of the population and it was reached in half and there were also other logistics problems that slowed the process. “[Los resultados] They have utility to know what are the key variables that must be played at the population level. But it is not a study that supports use, nor one that says that it is useless, that that would also be useful, ”summarizes the researcher.
Chaccour explains that now “the priority” is to conduct a second study that demonstrates efficiency, to achieve that WHO recommends the use of ivermectin as a public health strategy to control malaria. In addition, it considers it interesting to do operational research, that is, see what happens if instead of giving three doses there are five or if instead of giving a 400 you can also 600. What would happen if the ivermectin was combined or with the mass administration of antimalaric. “Another thing that interests me a lot is the approximation (an integral approach whose objective is to balance and optimize the health of people, animals and ecosystems.) Because we have given the drug to people, but the mosquitoes that transmit malaria often chop the animals too. That is not relevant to malaria because there is no transmission of parasites, but it does give them a free blood,” says the researcher.
For diseases that affect the poor we always take a long time to do things. I think we have to take the possibilities much more seriously and try to hurry the deadlines ”
Carlos Chaccour, the main co -investigator of Bohemia
Regarding the future of the investigation against malaria, in these times that Chaccour threatens that these “are noticed in everything” and that the decrease will require researchers for much more responsibility for the quality of the data they generate. It also considers that it is an opportunity for countries to try to carry out their own initiatives. “And also for integrative tools such as Ivermectina. Because if I now have a malaria program, one of scabies, another one of, just comes someone and tells you, look, with this only tool you can treat five or six different diseases,” he says.
Finally, it affects that you have to find ways to accelerate the generation of evidence. “The proof of concept of [este estudio] It is something that I did in 2008: kill mosquitoes that feed on treated people. 17 years have passed. For diseases that affect the poor we always take a long time to do things. I think we have to take the possibilities much more seriously and try to hurry the deadlines. ”
