Sometimes it is the tiny of buggers that deal the largest of blows . This is none more genuine than for the wispy mosquito – we ’ve tried to smash them , poison them , Delaware - fertilize them , and yet , they still hold up to bite another day . They are the ultimate vector of disease and destruction , defeat more humans than humans themselves in 2013 . Perhaps to deal with mosquitos then , we first have to look at ourselves and learn what wee-wee us so vulnerable to their seed - sized bodies .
A newfangled meta - analysis of blood type on susceptibility to grievous malaria does just that , confirming the notion that those with atomic number 8 type parentage are more protected from terrible , disastrous malaria than other blood types . regrettably , those of you with rakehell group A , B , and AB are less protected from severeP. falciparuminfection .
“ By better sympathize how line of descent grouping interact with malaria infection , we open door for the developing of treatment options and antimalarial vaccines , " say Abraham Degarege Mengist , a doctorial educatee at the Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work , in astatement .
The disease affects an estimated 219 million people in 87 countries , according to theWorld Health Organization . Of those , 435,000 pop off in 2017 . All the more tragical , the disease is both preventable and curable .
The cogitation hint selection pressures may have increased the proportion of multitude with rake type O in sub - Saharan African countries where malaria is endemic . They suggest transfusions of rake group O to malaria - infect patients may therefore be preferred in regions where malaria is autochthonal .
Blood types are categorized by the presence or absence seizure of antigen on the surface of red line cells . you’re able to be positively charged or minus depending on whether or not a protein called “ Rh factor ” is present . Around 47 percentage of African - Americans are O - positive , while 39 percent of Asians are . O - negative is much rarer in the ecumenical population , with 4 percent and 1 per centum of African - Americans and Asians respectively having this ancestry eccentric , according to theRed Cross . These individuals are considered “ universal donors ” – their blood is most likely to mix well with another person ’s and not result in complications .
" Now that we are part to see the mechanisms of how blood eccentric can involve the progression of the disease , we are exploring various options that can one day help people in the region where malaria is endemic , ” order Mengist , study source of the research published in the journalBlood Reviews .