Wednesday 1 May 2013

MALARIA PARASITE COMING IMMUNE TO ARTEMISININ

There is a disturbing report on BBC internet of the cerebral malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum becoming immune to the malaria  drug artemisinin in western Cambodia. The problem has spread to other parts of S-E Asia. Please click:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22315715Cached
3 days ago – New strains of the parasite that causes malaria are
developing a resistance to the drug most widely used against the
disease.
This is a worry as the drug artemisinin is the last in a long line of drugs to which the parasite has become immune. Experts point out that the drug works very well at the present time. But it will only be a matter of time.
Africa is the most affected continent with about 90% of all malaria deaths occurring there. Across the world, there were about 219 million malaria cases in 2010 with about 660,000 deaths.

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