Many important infectious diseases are the result of zoonoses, in which pathogens that normally infect animals acquire mutations that enable the breaching of species barriers to permit the infection of humans.
Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) have been described as a source of genetic material to analyse malaria parasites in proof-of-concept studies. The increasing use of RDTs (e.g., in focal or mass screening and treatment campaigns) makes this approach particularly attractive for large-scale investigations of parasite populations. In this study, the complexity of Plasmodium falciparum infections, parasite load and chloroquine resistance transporter gene mutations were investigated in DNA samples extracted from positive RDTs, obtained in a routine setting and archived at ambient temperature.
AS/SP remains effective for the treatment of P. falciparum and P. vivax.
The absence of in vitro cross-resistance against the artemisinin-resistant clinical isolate Cam3.IR539T suggests that ozonides could be effective against artemisinin-resistant P. falciparum.
The prevalence of P. falciparum parasitaemia is 10 % in healthy blood donors in the Akatsi district and represents a risk for TTM though the extent of this risk is unclear.
The overall decline in admitted malaria cases to CMCH suggests recent control measures are successful.
This is the first observation of a decreased prevalence of pfcrt 76T, pfmdr1 86Y, 184Y and 1246Y in an African setting after several years of extensive ASAQ use as first-line treatment for uncomplicated malaria.
Artemisinin-based combination therapy for malaria has become widely available across Africa.
New drugs to treat malaria must act rapidly and be highly potent against asexual blood stages, well tolerated, and affordable to residents of regions of endemicity.
The emergence and spread of Plasmodium falciparum with resistance to chloroquine (CQ), the safest and cheapest anti-malarial drug, coupled with the increasing cost of alternative drugs especially in developing countries have necessitated the urgent need to tap the potential of plants for novel anti-malarials.
