Artemisinin which for more than 20 years has served as the base drug for treatment of Malaria, seems to be slowly but surely losing battle against the deadly tropical disease.
Resistance to the lifesaving malaria drug, Artemisinin, according to researchers, is rapidly emerging in young African children suffering from serious infections,
At least, this is according to a study findings from patients admitted at a hospital in Uganda.
But even before that, the World Health Organization (WHO) had reported cases of Malaria resisting artemisinin treatments, signalling rising dangers for people in Africa and Asia where the disease is still claiming victims.
But the recent study by researchers from Kenya, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States, further affirms the fears.
Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the study observed partial resistance to artemisinin in 11 of 100 children, aged 6 months to 12 years, who were undergoing complicated malaria treatments of severe disease caused by the Plasmodium Falciparum parasite.
“Complicated Malaria has signs of severe disease; evidence of organ dysfunction like anaemia, cerebral malaria, acute kidney injury, and repeated seizures,” says John Chandy, the study’s co-author from Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis.
All children in the study were admitted to the hospital for care of their severe disease.
The researchers found out that 11 patients, who were thought to have been cured, suffered a repeat malaria attack within 28 days.
This was from the same strain that caused the original infection, suggesting that the initial treatment did not fully kill the infecting parasites.
According to the study, the efficacy potential of Artemisinin is dwindling, a dire prospect, especially for African children under five years, who account for 95 percent of the 608,000 people dying from malaria annually.
While all the studied children eventually recovered, 10 of them were infected with malaria parasites that harbour mutations linked to artemisinin-resistance in Southeast Asia, where resistant malaria parasites emerged with evidence of partial artemisinin resistance.
“The current recommendation is to prolong therapy until parasites on the blood smear are cleared and then complete the full oral follow-up treatment for severe malaria,” Chandy maintains.
For years, the World Health Organization has been recommending three days of oral treatment with any of five artemisinin-based combination therapies.
These ACT include Artemether and Lumefantrine; Artesunate and Amodiaquine (ASAQ); Artesunate Mefloquine, and Dihydroartemisinin and Piperaquine, or Artesunate and Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine.
It is believed that in each of these ACT combinations, the Artemisinin derivative rapidly kills the parasites but is itself rapidly cleared from the body. However, the power of the drugs seems to be diminishing now.