Post by Nadica (She/Her) on Jul 23, 2024 23:50:04 GMT
Drug-Resistant Strain of Malaria Spreads, Putting Millions at Risk - Published July 22, 2024
Leading scientists are warning that “urgent action” is needed to protect millions as current medicine is proving ineffective against a strain of the mosquito-borne illness
A strain of malaria that’s resistant to current treatment for the disease is spreading in Africa, putting millions at risk.
The potent drug artemisinin has been a front-line treatment for the parasitic mosquito-borne illness, but as the BBC reports, in some areas the drug-resistant strain makes up 20% of the cases.
“Artemisinin is a very fast-acting antimalarial drug and is the most important drug in the treatment of severe and uncomplicated malaria,” the National Library of Medicine explains.
The drug helps "reduce the number of parasites during the first 3 days of treatment," the World Health Organization says, adding that the strain's resistance “is a major obstacle to the global malaria eradication/elimination programs.”
“In the past, the spread of antimalarial resistance resulted in millions of avoidable deaths. Without radical action, this history will repeat itself,” warned a report, written by leading malaria scientists, that was published in the journal Science.
The spread of this drug-resistant strain, they said, demands “urgent action.”
Malaria is only spread by the Anopheles mosquito, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Early signs of an infection include flu-like symptoms such as chills, fever, and nausea, followed by more severe consequences such as kidney failure, seizures, mental confusion, and coma.
Prevention is key, and there are vaccines against the illness, which the CDC says “reduce uncomplicated malaria by 40%, severe malaria by 30%, and all-cause mortality by 13%.”
In addition, the agency says, “One of the most effective malaria prevention methods is the use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) to prevent mosquito bites.”
“Now is the time to act before millions of people die due to increasingly ineffective antimalarial treatments,” Professor Olugbenga Mokuolu, from the department of pediatrics at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria, said, according to the BBC.
The World Health Organization says that children under the age of 5 make up 80% of the malaria deaths in the region.
Last June, the United States reported its first malaria cases in 20 years, with five people in Florida and Texas being diagnosed with the disease.
While most cases of malaria in the United States occur in people who caught the disease while traveling — last year’s cases were acquired stateside from the bites of infected mosquitos.
Leading scientists are warning that “urgent action” is needed to protect millions as current medicine is proving ineffective against a strain of the mosquito-borne illness
A strain of malaria that’s resistant to current treatment for the disease is spreading in Africa, putting millions at risk.
The potent drug artemisinin has been a front-line treatment for the parasitic mosquito-borne illness, but as the BBC reports, in some areas the drug-resistant strain makes up 20% of the cases.
“Artemisinin is a very fast-acting antimalarial drug and is the most important drug in the treatment of severe and uncomplicated malaria,” the National Library of Medicine explains.
The drug helps "reduce the number of parasites during the first 3 days of treatment," the World Health Organization says, adding that the strain's resistance “is a major obstacle to the global malaria eradication/elimination programs.”
“In the past, the spread of antimalarial resistance resulted in millions of avoidable deaths. Without radical action, this history will repeat itself,” warned a report, written by leading malaria scientists, that was published in the journal Science.
The spread of this drug-resistant strain, they said, demands “urgent action.”
Malaria is only spread by the Anopheles mosquito, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Early signs of an infection include flu-like symptoms such as chills, fever, and nausea, followed by more severe consequences such as kidney failure, seizures, mental confusion, and coma.
Prevention is key, and there are vaccines against the illness, which the CDC says “reduce uncomplicated malaria by 40%, severe malaria by 30%, and all-cause mortality by 13%.”
In addition, the agency says, “One of the most effective malaria prevention methods is the use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) to prevent mosquito bites.”
“Now is the time to act before millions of people die due to increasingly ineffective antimalarial treatments,” Professor Olugbenga Mokuolu, from the department of pediatrics at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria, said, according to the BBC.
The World Health Organization says that children under the age of 5 make up 80% of the malaria deaths in the region.
Last June, the United States reported its first malaria cases in 20 years, with five people in Florida and Texas being diagnosed with the disease.
While most cases of malaria in the United States occur in people who caught the disease while traveling — last year’s cases were acquired stateside from the bites of infected mosquitos.