Malaria deaths can be reduced

A new study carried out by international scientists has discovered that deaths from severe forms of malaria could be reduced by providing a food supplement, a naturally-occurring amino acid, to the patients.

The study, published in The Lancet, of African children suggests that supplying food supplements with the amino acid arginine may help reduce deaths from the life-threatening disease.

Researchers from Australia, the US and Tanzania have carried out the new study, according to a report in ABC News Online.

Arginine is a building block of proteins and other chemicals in the body and found in some foods, said associate professor Nick Anstey of the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin, Australia, one of the authors of the study.

Drugs currently used to kill the malaria parasite have limited effectiveness in preventing deaths, said Ans-tey, with 15 to 20 per cent of people with severe malaria still dying despite the best care.

ANI


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