Spread resistant malaria pathogens

Resistant malaria pathogen continues to spread

02/24/2015

According to an international research team, a resistant malaria pathogen is spreading further in Southeast Asia and is already close to the border with India. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people worldwide die of the dangerous infectious disease.

Resistant pathogen just a few miles from India
According to researchers, a resistant malaria virus spreads in Southeast Asia more and more. An international team of scientists warns according to the journal „Lancet Infectious Diseases“ that the effective and widely used malaria drug Artemisinin against the pathogen was ineffective. Just 25 kilometers from the Indian border, resistant parasites have been found in Myanmar. Researchers led by Kyaw Tun of the Myanmar Oxford Clinical Research Center in Yangon write that spreading on the subcontinent would have serious consequences. It is said that the spread rate is worrying.

Hundreds of thousands of people die each year from malaria
Every year, nearly 600,000 people worldwide die as a result of a malaria infection. The majority of them are children under five in Africa. The current results showed that history is repeating itself. Professor Mike Turner of the Wellcome Trust reported that in the 1960s, resistant parasites had appeared in Southeast Asia against other drugs and spread through Myanmar to India and from there to the rest of the world. The expert called Myanmar a gateway that would allow resistant pathogens to make their way into the world.

Researchers already warned last summer
Researchers had already warned last summer against pathogens that are resistant to artemisinin. These have already firmly established themselves in some regions of Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam. The team of scientists had examined around 1,200 patients in a total of ten countries in Asia and Africa. In the trade magazine „New England Journal of Medicine“ („NEJM“), the British scientists reported that the resistant pathogen had not yet been found in the three African countries.

One of the deadliest infectious diseases
The malaria virus is transmitted via stabs of the female Anopheles mosquito. The disease, which is associated with high fever, is considered to be one of the deadliest infectious diseases ever. In addition to the high temperature, there are also symptoms such as chills and discomfort of the gastrointestinal tract, such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. Although malaria can be cured, many patients die because of a lack of medical care. A preventive vaccine does not exist so far. If you travel or live in affected areas, you should protect yourself from mosquito bites. For example, mosquito nets, long clothes or special mosquito sprays can provide protection. (Ad)