The article that I read discussed a new drug called ELQ-300 which many scientist believe is the new breakthrough in treating malaria. Malaria is a protozoa that is carried by mosquito that can cause stomach pains, aches, severe fever, and even death. There a currently many medicines available to treat malaria, but the malaria protozoa is a very stubborn bacteria. This new strain is much stronger than previous medicines and breaks down much slower than other medicines. This makes it very difficult for the malaria to adapt to the medicine and render it ineffective. This has been the problem with many medicines in the past because malaria is highly adaptable and can make the medicine ineffective before it has a chance to kill the malaria. San Rafael of the University of California says that this new drug is not worth all the hype because the malaria will find a way around ELQ-300 before the medicine can make a difference. While this is a valid argument, if ELQ-300 can outlast the stubborn malaria, than this medicine could potentially save thousands of lives.
Link to article:
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/349137/description/Experimental_malaria_drug_may_be_a_hot_prospect
NOS Themes:
-Science is based on evidence
-Science is subject to debate and tentative
-Role of Skepticism
This could be very useful. Malaria is a main problem in some undeveloped countries. If we can stop malaria before it adapts to this drug then we have won. This will also give scientists a chance to get working on more solutions.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cdc.gov/MALARIA/
I am glad that scientists have found a potentially effective drug for such a major problem, especially in underdeveloped countries. Every year, 655,000 people die from malaria. I hope that this drug would reduce that number significantly. The only problem I see is distributing the drug. If people don't have a lot of access to drugs, they could not receive this new drug to help them.
ReplyDeletehttps://internationalmedicalcorps.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=501&gclid=CMfv2L6ulrYCFag7Mgod9SMAJg
How does it cure malaria
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting, but I wonder how it would effect people who had some kind of pre-existing condition. I did some research, and it says that there are many different things that can affect the curability of malaria. I also wonder if this medication will allow for people to be cured of malaria from a later stage of it. In the past, malaria had to be caught early to cure it, maybe now it will be possible to cure from a later stage.
ReplyDeletehttp://malaria.emedtv.com/malaria/malaria-treatment.html
This article is very intriguing and I like how you gave the reader two points of view on the subject. I like this because it realistic and shows that miracle medicines.
ReplyDeleteIt was mentioned in the article that San Rafael had said that it wasnt worth it to make the vaccine if it was just going to become noneffective. As also mentioned, even though it might not work for very long, it would still save very many lives. I think this is what is important out of everything.
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