& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Peruvians find Anti-Malarial Control

by Rhoda Metcalfe
A research leant led by microbiologist Palmira Ventosilla has developed an innovative, cheap and safe method to control malaria in Peru, right next to the breeding place of Anopheles mosquito larvae.
Researchers from the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Tropical Medicine have discovered that coconuts are the perfect Incubator for a micro-organism that kills the larvae of the Insect that transmits malaria. According to Ventosilla, coconut waler has the amino acids and the carbohydrates the bacteria need to reproduce, and the bark of the fruit protects them during incubation.
In countries such as Peru, over one third of the popul.i Hon arc In grave danger of contracting this disease. As a consequence. Its effects on the economy are devastating. Owing to malaria, there is a high rate of absenteeism among workers, and students who suffer it are unable lo concentrate, have learning difficulties, and frequently miss lessons. Often, malaria patients do not die of this disease; however, they are weakened by the constant high fever, which brings down their defence mechanisms and makes them vulnerable to other diseases.
Scientists have discovered medicines that fight the symptoms of malaria, but In general, they are too expensive for the population. Be*ide», mosqut-tocs are very adaptable, and they have developed resistance to chemicals.
In the past, the method used to eradicate mosquito lar vac was to spray pesticides, but very few countries In Ihc developing world can buy commercial product* of this type on a large scale. Besides, it has been determined that many of the liquids used for spraying are dangerous when they come into contact with the skin, or when they are ingested or inhaled by cattle or humans.
The use of harmless pest control methods is not new. In Indian, the Malaria Research Centre of Gujarat eliminated Anopheles mosquitoes by introducing fish and shrimps
which feed on the larvae Into the swamps and stagnated waler where the mosquitoes breed. Similar results have been obtained in Spain using an alga. Chara foelida.
The micro-organism used by Ventosilla in her research. Bacillus thuringiensis varlsrae-lensis H-14 known as Bti. has existed for a long time. It was discovered by Israeli scientists some 20 years ago when they found great quantities of dead mosquito larvae in the waler of certain lakes.
When they analysed the water of the lake* In the Peruvian Amazomian region Scientists isolated the spores of Bti. which 1* the perfect pesticide, as it causes the death of mosquitoes and gnat*, while being harmless for cattle and humans. Izuvae go through four stages of development, during three of which they Ingest the bacteria together with algae. In turn. Bti cuts the Inner layer of the larvae's stomach, thus killing them.
Up to now the use of the bacteria had been rare In underdeveloped countries because of Its cost. In order to eliminate this barrier, in 1988 the Peruvian research team started a study to try to multiply Bti spores, by fermenting them Inside several types of locally-grown produce. As fermentation Is a technique commonly used in Peru, rc-scarehers thought that leaching this technology lo peasants would be relatively easy.
Very soon, the study showed that If you placed Bti spores In coconut water held in special laboratory boxes at n»m temperature, they multiplied 1n three days from an initial 100 per millilitre to a maximum of a million per millilitre. In turn, if you inoculated bacteria in whole coconuts the-spores multiplied up lo one million per millilitre.
Simultaneously, in New Zealand, microbiologist C N Chilcotl reached similar conclusions. which made it possible to demonstrate the efficiency of coconut water as a means to grow Bti spores.
Thirty-seven per cent of the Peruvian population arc In serious danger of contracting malaria. The risk becomes higher in the northern Amazonian regions and along the northern coast, where flooded paddy-field* provide good breeding places for moequtto larvae.
At present. Ventosilla alm* to create an awareness tn health officials, to teach them the technique, and to make It possible for thl* knowledge to reach other places.
— Third World Network Fcntures/Informa Bulletin
(Rhoda Metcalfe is a Canadian Journalist)