Climate warming may increase malaria risk in colder areas

New Delhi, June 28 (ANI): Even a slight increase in temperature may shoot up the risk of malaria to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, including travellers, in areas that are currently too cold for the completion of malaria parasites development, claims a recent study. "Our work shows that even small increases in temperature could dramatically increase malaria infections in humans because the parasites develop much faster at these lower temperatures than has been previously estimated. Parasite development rate further increases when temperatures fluctuate naturally, from cooler at night to warmer in the day," said Jessica Waite, senior scientist, Penn State. The researchers used two of the most important malaria-hosting mosquito species in the world -- Anopheles stephensi and Anopheles gambiae -- to conduct their experiments. They maintained these malaria-infected mosquitoes in the laboratory under a variety of temperatures ranging from 16 to 20 degrees Celsius. They maintained a