The emergence of new drug resistant malaria at the Thai-Cambodian border could seriously undermine efforts to bring the disease under control, the World Health Organization said.
The emergence of new drug resistant malaria at the Thai-Cambodian border could "seriously undermine" efforts to bring the disease under control, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.
"Surveillance systems and research studies... are providing new evidence that parasites resistant to artemisinin have emerged along the border between Cambodia and Thailand where workers walk for miles every day to clear forests," said the WHO in a statement.
Malaria - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Prevention, Treatment
Malaria is caused by a parasite that enters blood through the bite of an infected mosquito. It is characterized by fever, vomiting, shivering, sweating and other symptoms.
Malaria is caused by a parasite that enters blood through the bite of an infected mosquito. It is characterized by fever, vomiting, shivering, sweating and other symptoms.
New artemisinin-based medication has been largely credited in recent years for increasing recovery rates from the mosquito-transmitted disease that kills one million people a year.
It was regarded as a replacement for older drugs that were fast becoming useless in several areas of the world as the malaria parasite developed resistance to them.
"If we do not put a stop to the drug-resistant malaria situation that has been documented in the Thai-Cambodian border, it could spread rapidly to neighbouring countries and threaten our efforts to control this deadly disease," said WHO Assistant Director-General Hiroki Nakatani.
The WHO said it had obtained a 22.5-million-dollar grant from the Gates Foundation to find ways of containing the resistant strains of malaria.
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Treatment approach for complicated malaria
Two types of drugs are used to treat malaria. Blood schizonticides, which attack parasites in red blood cells, are used in acute infection to prevent or terminate the clinical attack.
Two types of drugs are used to treat malaria. Blood schizonticides, which attack parasites in red blood cells, are used in acute infection to prevent or terminate the clinical attack.
Source-AFP
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Scientists Make Breakthrough in Malaria Treatment
Australian scientists have made a major breakthrough in the global fight against malaria.
Australian scientists have made a major breakthrough in the global fight against malaria.
