Using a recent grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Andrew Fung and his colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles are developing Maliva, a malaria-detecting gum that could offer cheap, new way to diagnose or monitor diseases.
“Wherever you sell candy, you could sell this gum,” said Fung.
A person is infected with malaria when a female Anopheles mosquito, searching for blood to feed her young, bites a person. Six to 14 days after exposure, the infected individual will exhibit various symptoms, such as fever, chills, vomiting, a lack of energy (caused by the malaria parasites bursting out of red blood cells), and even convulsions.
To diagnose malaria, scientists draw a small blood sample and examine it under a microscope, searching for darker than normal red blood cells, which are infected by malaria parasites.
For regions without microscopes or experienced staff where malaria is prevalent, doctors currently use an antigen test. Using a single drop of blood, the tests detect the presence of several molecules made by the malaria parasites and released into human blood.
Areas that can’t even afford the antigen tests, or where even a drop of blood is taboo, could use a new method to detect malaria.
Maliva could be that test, since three of the proteins that the blood antigen tests detect can also be found in saliva, according to a study released last year.