KIU News

  • Home /
  • KIU News /
  • KIU International Desk: Scientists Discover Parasite Resistant to Major Anti-Malarial Drug in Rwanda

KIU International Desk: Scientists Discover Parasite Resistant to Major Anti-Malarial Drug in Rwanda

kiu-international-desk-scientists-discover-parasite-resistant-to-major-anti-malarial-drug-in-rwanda

Scientists have detected the emergence and spread of malaria parasites capable of resisting artemisinin, an anti-malarial drug recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the first time in Rwanda, according to newsmedical.net.

Scientists from the Institut Pasteur, in collaboration with the National Malaria Control Program in Rwanda (Rwanda Biomedical Center), the World Health Organization (WHO), Cochin Hospital and Columbia University (New York, USA) discovered the parasites and published the research on August 3, 2020, in Nature Medicine, a medical journal.

According to newsmedical, this resistance, which leads to a delay in the clearance of parasites from the bloodstream of individuals treated with artemisinin-based combination therapies  (ACT), is currently a serious threat that may hinder efforts to tackle the disease.

A major concern is that these resistant parasites will spread through Sub-Saharan Africa, the continent most affected by malaria with more than 90% of cases worldwide, as was the case with previous generations of antimalarial treatments like chloroquine and folic acid antagonists.

Picture credit: medpro Holland