Plasmodium

The report warns that the parasite Plasmodium falciparum — which causes the most lethal form of human malaria — is becoming resistant to the first-choice drug, DHA-piperaquine, in parts of Southeast Asia, with patients seeing a failure rate of 50 percent or more.

This week, scientists at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute announced that they have identified a sugar in mosquitoes that the malaria-causing parasite [Plasmodium falciparum] needs. The sugar is essential for the parasite's movement within the midgut section of the mosquito's body.

There are four types of malaria parasite that typically infect people. The most common and deadly is Plasmodium falciparum, which goes through a number of life-cycle stages during which the parasite evolves into a different form.