According to the World Health Organization, malaria is responsible for approximately 445,000 deaths every year. That number may be due to drop, however, as scientists have found that a human-safe blue dye kills parasites in patients' bloodstreams within two days – that's faster than has ever been possible before.
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That's where the methylene blue dye comes in.In field tests conducted in Mali, it was added to artemisinin-based medication, and was found to eradicate all gametocytes in patients' bloodstreams within as little as 48 hours. The dye is typically used in laboratories to distinguish dead cells from living cells, and was reportedly well-tolerated by the test subjects. It does, however, have one interesting side effect.
According to the lead scientist it turns your urine blue, which is reason enough for anybody to take it, really.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Friday February 09 2018, @01:57PM
On the other side, it seems like over the course of my life, all the "cool' microscope stains have been found to cause cancer, but good old methylene blue is still somehow "safe".
I honestly don't remember from quantitative chemical analysis class a quarter century ago, if we used it as a chemistry indicator for some obscure titrations. I think it would work.
A long time ago when kids toy microscopes came with methylene blue to stain your own homemade glass slides, it did a great job of permanently staining your fingers and clothes. I'm somewhat curious if the "temporary tattoo" people use it.