A study conducted in Uganda has found evidence of partial resistance to Artemisinin; the primary treatment for malaria in young children with severe forms of the parasitic disease. The study, published on Nov.14 in JAMA; a medical journal published by the American Medical Association is by an international team of researchers.
Its findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), held in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA from Nov.13-17. The study done in the eastern Uganda city of Jinja looked at children aged 6 months to 12 years with severe malaria.
The researchers found that 11 of the 100 participants, or about 10%, showed partial artemisinin resistance. This term refers to a delay in the clearance of the malaria parasite from the body after treatment; a partially resistant infection is classified as one in which the drug takes longer than 5 hours to kill half of the malaria parasites. Artemisinin resistance has been detected in children in Africa previously, but the fact that it has now been identified specifically in children with severe malaria raises the threat level.
“If this is verified by other studies, it could change guidelines for treatment of severe malaria in African children, and they are the biggest target group by far,” says Chandy John, a specialist in paediatric infectious diseases at Indiana University in Indianapolis. John is a co-author of the study. Partial artemisinin resistance is widespread.