A strain resistant to artemisinin, one of the drugs that fights malaria, was found in the parasite that causes the disease in Rwanda. The study was published by Nature and reveals a “huge threat to public health”
It is the first time that scientists have observed the existence of parasites resistant to one of the main drugs that fight malaria in Africa, reports the BBC. Researchers in the study published by the journal Nature have detected a strain of the parasite that is resistant to artemisinin – a drug that, like the famous chloroquine, is at the forefront in fighting the disease.
It turns out that this particular mutation in the parasite was found in 19 of the 257 patients at one of the health centers they monitored in Rwanda, that is, in 7.4% of cases.
The study was developed by scientists from the Pasteur Institute, in collaboration with the National Malaria Control Program in Rwanda (Biomedical Center of Rwanda), the World Health Organization, Cochin Hospital and Columbia University (New York, United States) . The researchers analyzed blood samples from patients with malaria in Rwanda.
