Southeast Asia

Addressing budget reduction and reallocation on health-related resources during COVID-19 pandemic in malaria-endemic countries

Tags:

COVID-19 pandemic, malaria, control programs, Africa, Southeast Asia

Author(s):

Ajib Diptyanusa and Karen Nelwin Zablon

Reference:

Malaria Journal 2020 19:411, 16 November 2020

The global COVID-19 pandemic has been affecting the maintenance of various disease control programmes, including malaria. In some malaria-endemic countries, funding and personnel reallocations were executed from malaria control programmes to support COVID-19 response efforts, resulting mainly in interruptions of disease control activities and reduced capabilities of health system.

NOT Open Access | Ultrasensitive diagnostics for low density asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum infections in low transmission settings

Tags:

malaria, asymptomatic, plasmodium falciparum, RDT, Southeast Asia

Author(s):

Zainabadi K

Reference:

J Clin Microbiol. 2020 Nov 4:JCM.01508-20

The emergence of multidrug resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Southeast Asia has accelerated regional malaria elimination efforts. Most malaria in this and other low transmission settings exists in asymptomatic individuals, which conventional diagnostic tests lack the sensitivity to detect. This has led to the development of new ultrasensitive diagnostics that are capable of detecting these low parasitemic infections.

Transmission of artemisinin-resistant malaria parasites to mosquitoes under antimalarial drug pressure

Tags:

ACT, plasmodium falciparum, resistance, malaria, mosquitoes, antimalarial drug, Southeast Asia

Author(s):

Witmer K, Dahalan FA, Baum J, et al.

Reference:

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2020 Nov 2:AAC.00898-20

Resistance to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) in the Plasmodium falciparum parasite is threatening to reverse recent gains in reducing global deaths from malaria. Whilst resistance manifests as delayed parasite clearance in patients the phenotype can only spread geographically via the sexual stages and mosquito transmission. In addition to their asexual killing properties, artemisinin and its derivatives sterilise sexual male gametocytes.

NOT Open Access | Absence of association between polymorphisms in the pfcoronin and pfk13 genes and the presence of Plasmodium falciparum parasites after treatment with artemisinin derivatives in Senegal

Tags:

chloroquine, sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, pfcoronin, pfk13 genes, plasmodium falciparum, after treatment, artemisinin derivatives, artemisinin resistance, Southeast Asia, Senegal

Author(s):

Delandre O, Daffe SM, Pradines B, et al.

Reference:

Int J Antimicrob Agents. 2020 Oct 9:106190

Due to resistance to chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, treatment for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria switched to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) in 2006 in Senegal. Several mutations in the gene coding the kelch13 helix (pfk13-propeller) were identified to be associated with in vitro and in vivo artemisinin resistance in Southeast Asia.

NOT Open Access | Treating Severe Malaria

Tags:

malaria, clinical infectious disease, falciparum, antimalarial treatment, adults, Southeast Asia

Author(s):

Berman JD

Reference:

Clin Infect Dis. 2020 Sep 30:ciaa887

In “Concomitant bacteremia in adults with severe falciparum malaria” in this issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, 9 of 845 Southeast Asian adults with severe malaria (1%) had bacteremia upon admission, but 4 of those 9 patients (44%) died compared with 108 of 836 (13%) nonbacteremic patients.

Syk Inhibitors: New Computational Insights into Their Intraerythrocytic Action in Plasmodium falciparum Malaria

Tags:

band 3; red blood cells; antimalarial drugs; molecular docking; molecular dynamics, Southeast Asia

Author(s):

Marchetti G, Dessì A, Dallocchio R, Tsamesidis I, Pau MC, Turrini FM, Pantaleo A

Reference:

Mol Sci. 2020 Sep 23;21(19):E7009

Resistance to antimalarial drugs has spread rapidly over the past few decades. The WHO recommends artemisinin-based combination therapies for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria, but unfortunately these approaches are losing their efficacy in large areas of Southeast Asia. In 2016, artemisinin resistance was confirmed in 5 countries of the Greater Mekong subregion. We focused our study on Syk inhibitors as antimalarial drugs.

NOT Open Access | Serratia marcescens secretes proteases and chitinases with larvicidal activity against Anopheles dirus

Tags:

vector control, malaria, serratia marcescens, Anopheles dirus, Southeast Asia

Author(s):

Jupatanakul N, Pengon J, Selisana SMG, Choksawangkarn W, Jaito N, Saeung A, Bunyong R, Posayapisit N, Thammatinna K, Kalpongnukul N, Aupalee K, Pisitkun T, Kamchonwongpaisan S

Reference:

Acta Trop. 2020 Aug 28:105686

Vector control, the most efficient tool to reduce mosquito-borne disease transmission, has been compromised by the rise of insecticide resistance. Recent studies suggest the potential of mosquito-associated microbiota as a source for new biocontrol agents or new insecticidal chemotypes. In this study, we identified a strain of Serratia marcescens that has larvicidal activity against Anopheles dirus, an important malaria vector in Southeast Asia.

Population genomics identifies a distinct Plasmodium vivax population on the China-Myanmar border of Southeast Asia

Tags:

population genomics, Plasmodium vivax, chloroquine resistance, Southeast Asia

Author(s):

Brashear AM, Fan Q, Hu Y, Li Y, Zhao Y, Wang Z, Cao Y, Miao J, Barry A, Cui L.

Reference:

PLoS Negl Trop Dis 14(8): e0008506

Plasmodium vivax has become the predominant malaria parasite and a major challenge for malaria elimination in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). Yet, our knowledge about the evolution of P. vivax populations in the GMS is fragmental. We performed whole genome sequencing on 23 P. vivax samples from the China-Myanmar border (CMB) and used 21 high-coverage samples to compare to over 200 samples from the rest of the GMS.

NOT Open Access | Efficacy and Safety of a Naphthoquine-Azithromycin Co-Formulation for Malaria Prophylaxis in Southeast Asia: A Phase 3, Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Tags:

naphthoquine-azithromycin, malaria, prophylaxis, plasmodium infections, Southeast Asia, pacebo-controlled trial

Author(s):

Yang H, Wang J, Cui L, et al.

Reference:

Clin Infect Dis. 2020 Jul 20:ciaa1018

A prophylactic antimalarial drug that is both effective for protection and improves compliance is in high demand.

NOT Open Access | Is the Epidemiology of Plasmodium knowlesi Changing, and What Does This Mean for Malaria Control in Southeast Asia?

Tags:

Plasmodium knowlesi, malaria control, Southeast Asia

Author(s):

Karunajeewa H, Berman J

Reference:

Clinical Infectious Diseases, Volume 70, Issue 3, 1 February 2020, Pages 368–369

It has long been clear that the “monkey-malaria” species, Plasmodium knowlesi, is capable of infecting humans. Its name comes from Robert Knowles, the British parasitologist who first demonstrated experimental monkey–human transmission and pioneered its use as “malaria therapy” for syphilis and leprosy from as early as 1932 [1].

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