Rise in malaria rates, drug resistance tied to climate (change)

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http://tdcplone.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/malaria/rise-in-malaria-rates-drug-resistance-tied-to

Rise in malaria rates, drug resistance tied to climate

16 February 2009

By Andrew McGlashen
For the Daily Climate

CHICAGO – Warmer temperatures are at least partly to blame for a surge in malaria cases in the highlands of East Africa and the increasing development of drug-resistant strains of the disease, according to a University of Michigan researcher.

The malaria parasite is highly sensitive to changes in temperature, and even subtle warming can dramatically increase populations of the mosquitoes that transmit the disease, said ecologist Mercedes Pascual.

Some scientists have argued that climate is not involved in the increasing highland epidemics. Instead, they say, adaptations in the parasite that make it resistant to anti-malarial drugs are the key drivers.

But Pascual said that this “either-or” view is misguided and improperly lets global warming off the hook.

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