Research suggests artemisinin resistance

New research has suggested that there is resistance to an anti-malarial drug.

Experts at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's 58th annual meeting revealed that this may be the case in Southeast Asia.

The discussion also suggested that this resistance may be more widespread than initially thought.

This refers to the artemisinin drug, with Dr Pascal Ringwald of the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealing that this course of treatment could have a major impact on treatment of malaria.

He explained: "The loss of artemisinin derivatives to resistance could have a devastating effect on health in tropical countries, and would threaten current global efforts to eliminate malaria, as there are very few innovative replacement therapies in the pipeline at the late stage of development."

According to figures from the WHO, malaria causes around 250 million illnesses and 850,000 deaths every year, with approximately half of the world's population at risk of contracting the disease.

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