Resistance to antimalarial drugs: An endless world war against Plasmodium that we risk losing

Carlo Severini; Michela Menegon

doi:10.1016/j.jgar.2015.02.002

Resistance to antimalarial drugs: An endless world war against Plasmodium that we risk losing

J Glob Antimicrob Resist. 2015 Jun;3(2):58-63. doi: 10.1016/j.jgar.2015.02.002. Epub 2015 Feb 25.

Authors

Carlo Severini¹, Michela Menegon²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immune-mediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: carlo.severini@iss.it.
² Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immune-mediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.

PMID: 27873670
DOI: 10.1016/j.jgar.2015.02.002

Abstract

The objective of this review was to describe the 'state of the art' of Plasmodium falciparum resistance to the main antimalarial drugs. A brief note on Plasmodium vivax is also included. Resistance of P. falciparum to the various antimalarials has a long history of hits and misses. During the last 60 years, the pace at which this parasite has developed resistance to antimalarial drugs has exceeded the pace at which new drugs have been developed. In the last decade, the introduction of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) as a first-line drug treatment for non-complicated P. falciparum malaria had led to extraordinary results in disease control, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the emergence and spread of resistance to artemisinin in Southeast Asia jeopardise these results. In conclusion, the possible spread of artemisinin resistance in Africa should be considered as an epochal disaster.

Keywords: Artemisinin resistance; Drug resistance; Malaria; Molecular markers; Plasmodium falciparum; Plasmodium vivax.

Publication types

Review