Scientists ID malaria parasite dispersal

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- National Institutes of Health researchers in Washington have found the sequence by which malaria parasites disperse from the red blood cells it infects.

"This discovery provides the groundwork for possible new approaches to treating malaria," said Dr. Duane Alexander, director of the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, part of the NIH. "The malaria parasite is growing resistant to the drugs used to treat it, and new knowledge is essential for developing strategies to protect against the disease."

The study supplants earlier theories on how the malaria parasite spreads from the red blood cells it infects.

Researchers say identifying each step in disease process is a potential avenue for new therapies to be developed.

According to the World Health Organization, malaria kills more than 1 million people a year.

The study appears in the journal Current Biology.