Breaking News English

Scientists have developed a breathalyzer [to / for] test people for malaria. The device could help [detect / defect] the deadly disease much earlier than other methods and [this / thus] help millions of people around the world. The researchers, from Washington University in St Louis, USA, say [what / that] people with malaria give off a distinctive "[breath / breathe] print". The breathalyzer detects the chemicals that malaria creates [has / as] the person breathes into the device. One of the odours the device detects is [identity / identical] to a natural smell that [attracts / attractive] malaria-spreading insects such [as / was] mosquitos. The device is still in its early stages of development. The researchers say it could lead to a new, cheap and easy way to help [diagnostics / diagnose] malaria.

The prototype breathalyzer detects six different odours [or / nor] chemical compounds to spot [instances / instance] of malaria. The researchers did tests on 35 children in Malawi. They took breath samples [uses / using] the breathalyzer to test the [accuracy / accurate] of the machine. It accurately identified 29 of the children as [having / had] malaria. This was a success rate of 83 per cent. Lead researcher Audrey Odom John said: "It's [clearly / clear] that if we had fast, easy-to-use, [reliable / reliably] diagnostic devices…we could reduce unnecessary antibiotic use. This would have a [majority / major] impact [on / in] the control of malaria, because all current diagnostic methods require blood [sampling / sample] ." Malaria currently kills around 430,000 a year around the world.