26/05/16

Malaria breathalyser tests in Bangladesh

Copyright: Carl Davies, CSIRO

By: Nick Reading

We encourage you to republish this article online and in print, it’s free under our creative commons attribution license, but please follow some simple guidelines:

You have to credit our authors.
You have to credit SciDev.Net — where possible include our logo with a link back to the original article.
You can simply run the first few lines of the article and then add: “Read the full article on SciDev.Net” containing a link back to the original article.
If you want to also take images published in this story you will need to confirm with the original source if you're licensed to use them.
The easiest way to get the article on your site is to embed the code below.

For more information view our media page and republishing guidelines.

The full article is available here as HTML.

Press Ctrl-C to copy

<div class="article-wrap">
<div id="article-introduction">
<h1>Malaria breathalyser tests in Bangladesh</h1>
<h4>By: Nick Reading</h4>
</div>
<br />
<br />

<div id="article-body">
<div>
	Bangladesh figures in a list of countries due for  field trials of a new breathalyser test that can detect  malaria at an early stage. Other high-incidence countries where trials are to be conducted are Malawi, Sudan and Malaysia (Sabah province).<br />
	 </div>
<div>
	Bangladesh’s national <a href="http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/471029/25394400/1409707011800/NSP+Malaria+2015-2020+Bangladesh_Full+no+annexes.pdf?token=5NfaJ39GLwj60UHTmnGB3i0Nbaw%3D" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">plan</a> against malaria expects that by 2020 the country would become free of malaria and <a href="http://www.scidev.net/south-asia/health/" target="_parent" rel="noopener noreferrer">health</a> authorities say that the breathalyser, if successful,  could greatly help achieve that goal by reducing the costs of testing.    </div>
<div>
	 </div>
<div>
	The breathalyser can help to effectively target  communities affected by the <a href="http://www.scidev.net/south-asia/health/disease/" target="_parent" rel="noopener noreferrer">disease</a>, its developers say. They have identified distinctive chemicals known as markers that can be detected in the breath of people with <a href="http://www.scidev.net/south-asia/health/malaria/" target="_parent" rel="noopener noreferrer">malaria</a>.</div>
<div>
	The researchers from the <a href="http://www.csiro.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation</a> (CSIRO), an Australian federal government agency, will now spend the next 18 months assessing the test in the field. They will collaborate with colleagues in the United States after receiving a US$1.4 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.</div>
<div>
	 </div>
<div>
	“We can now test the accuracy and effectiveness of the breath markers under real-world conditions,” Stephen Trowell, research group leader at CSIRO, said in a statement.</div>
<div>
	 </div>
<div>
	“If this phase of the research pans out, we intend to move on to developing a simple, painless and cheap breath test to help identify people who have malaria but don’t know it.”<div class="related_widget"><h3 class="widgettitle">You might also like</h3><ul><li><a href="https://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/news/malaria-stalks-bangladesh-s-slash-and-burn-farmers/">Malaria stalks Bangladesh’s slash-and-burn farmers</a></li><li><a href="https://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/news/mosquito-data-map-spread-disease-dengue-1/">Scientists look to mosquito data to map spread of disease</a></li></ul></div>CSIRO’s researchers will collect breath samples from patients suspected of having malaria. A control group will also provide samples for comparison before both sets of samples are sent to Australia or the United States for analysis.</div>
<div>
	 </div>
<div>
	The prototype device for collecting breath samples resembles the breathalysers police officers use to test motorists for drink driving. It is cheaper than conventional blood testing, requires no <a href="http://www.scidev.net/south-asia/health/medicine/" target="_parent" rel="noopener noreferrer">medical</a> expertise to operate and could lead to early diagnosis, the developers point out.</div>
<div>
	 </div>
<div>
	“The detection of biomarkers in breath would certainly be an easier method for malaria diagnosis,” says Iveth González, who leads the Malaria & Acute Febrile Syndrome Programme at Swiss not-for-profit the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics. <br />
	 </div>

</div>
<div class="quick-links-wrapper">
<h3>You might also like</h3>
[related-articles]
</div>
<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/news/malaria-breathalyser-tests-bangladesh/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(e,t,n,r,i,s,o){e["GoogleAnalyticsObject"]=i;e[i]=e[i]||function(){(e[i].q=e[i].q||[]).push(arguments)},e[i].l=1*new Date;s=t.createElement(n),o=t.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];s.async=1;s.src=r;o.parentNode.insertBefore(s,o)})(window,document,"script","//www.google-analytics.com/ga.js","ga");var _gaq=_gaq||[];var _gaq=_gaq||[];_gaq.push(["_setAccount","UA-3223906-8"],["_trackEvent","article interaction","republished","https://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/news/malaria-breathalyser-tests-bangladesh/",null,true])
</script>
</div>

Bangladesh figures in a list of countries due for field trials of a new breathalyser test that can detect malaria at an early stage. Other high-incidence countries where trials are to be conducted are Malawi, Sudan and Malaysia (Sabah province).

Bangladesh’s national plan against malaria expects that by 2020 the country would become free of malaria and health authorities say that the breathalyser, if successful, could greatly help achieve that goal by reducing the costs of testing.

The breathalyser can help to effectively target communities affected by the disease, its developers say. They have identified distinctive chemicals known as markers that can be detected in the breath of people with malaria.

The researchers from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), an Australian federal government agency, will now spend the next 18 months assessing the test in the field. They will collaborate with colleagues in the United States after receiving a US$1.4 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“We can now test the accuracy and effectiveness of the breath markers under real-world conditions,” Stephen Trowell, research group leader at CSIRO, said in a statement.

“If this phase of the research pans out, we intend to move on to developing a simple, painless and cheap breath test to help identify people who have malaria but don’t know it.”

CSIRO’s researchers will collect breath samples from patients suspected of having malaria. A control group will also provide samples for comparison before both sets of samples are sent to Australia or the United States for analysis.

The prototype device for collecting breath samples resembles the breathalysers police officers use to test motorists for drink driving. It is cheaper than conventional blood testing, requires no medical expertise to operate and could lead to early diagnosis, the developers point out.

“The detection of biomarkers in breath would certainly be an easier method for malaria diagnosis,” says Iveth González, who leads the Malaria & Acute Febrile Syndrome Programme at Swiss not-for-profit the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics.