An international team of researchers from the University of Notre Dame’s Eck Institute for Global Health and Imperial College London has recently published its work on a malaria-filaria co-transmission model, where the same mosquito transmits both diseases together. Found in large areas of sub-Saharan Africa, one mosquito genus, Anopheles, carries both the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum and the microfilarial worm Wuchereria bancrofti, which causes lymphatic filariasis, which can develop into elephantiasis.

According to lead researcher Edwin Michael, professor of biological sciences specializing in epidemiology at the University of Notre Dame, “This has major implications for the transmission of each disease in endemic settings, and, of course, for developing better control interventions that ensure that removal of one disease does not have a profound (a worse health impact) outcome for diseases caused by the other pathogen.”

The manuscript, titled Modelling Co-Infection with Malaria and Lymphatic Filariasis, is being published in PLOS Computational Biology. The f

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Adults who eat a more plant-based diet may be boosting their chance of living longer, according to a large analysis.

Research has shown that the foods you eat influence your health. Eating certain foods, such as fruits and nuts, has been associated with reduced death rates, while other foods, such as red meat and processed meat, have been linked to increased mortality. Studies comparing overall eating patterns and mortality rates, however, have had mixed results.

A research team led by Drs. Michael Orlich and Gary Fraser at Loma Linda University explored the connections between dietary patterns and death in Seventh-day Adventist men and women. The research was part of an ongoing analysis of people recruited at Seventh-day Adventist churches in the United States and Canada between 2002 and 2007.

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