AP51210

=Drug-resistant malaria has spread to critical border regions of Southeast Asia =

The study confirms that resistance to the world's most effective antimalarial drug, artemisinin, is now widespread in Southeast Asia. This is not the first, or even the second time the malaria parasite has developed resistance to front line drugs, and each time resistance has emerged from the same corner of Asia on the Cambodia-Thailand border. The study also suggests that extending the course of antimalarial treatment in areas with established resistance -- for six days rather than the standard three days -- could offer a temporary solution to this worsening problem. Researchers also found that patients who had slow clearing infections were also more likely to have parasite stages which can infect mosquitoes. This suggests that artemisinin-resistant //P. falciparum // parasites have a transmission advantage over parasites that are not resistant, which drives their spread. Whilst new antimalarial medicines are in development, and another paper published in the //New England Journal of Medicine // has shown some promising trial results for a potential new antimalarial drug in development at Novartis, though they are unlikely to be available for widespread distribution for several years. Currently over half of the world's population are at risk of malaria infection. Although there has been a substantial reduction in the number of people falling ill and dying from malaria -- with approximately 3.3 million deaths prevented since 2000 -- it is estimated that more than 600,000 people still die from the disease each year, most of them children under five years of age living in Africa. The study was conducted by the Tracking Resistance to Artemisinin Collaboration (TRAC) who enrolled infected adults and children at 15 trial sites in 10 malaria-endemic countries between May 2011 and April 2013. The TRAC partners examined the different responses in malaria infected patients to artemisinin treatment. Patients received a six-day antimalarial treatment, three days of an artemisinin derivative and a three day course of artemesinin combination treatment (ACT).

References: Wellcome Trust. "Drug-resistant malaria has spread to critical border regions of Southeast Asia." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 30 July 2014. .


 * Spread of Artemisinin Resistance in Plasmodium falciparum Malaria **. //New England Journal of Medicine //, 2014; 371 (5): 411 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1314981

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