'Aggressive' drug-resistant malaria parasites spread throughout Southeast Asia

Researchers warn that drug-resistant malaria parasites are spreading in many Southeast Asian countries.

The Lancet Infectious Diseases magazine published research papers which evaluated that in many areas of Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, common parasites causing malaria were able to resist two popular anti-malarial drugs. Best.

Mr. Olivo Miotto at the Wellcome Sanger Institute at Oxford University (UK), who participated in the study stated: 'This worrying finding shows that the problem of resistance to Plasmodium falciparum parasites is getting worse at Southeast Asia since 2005. These drug-resistant parasites are capable of invading new territory '.

Images of mosquitoes causing malaria in a laboratory at the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand.(Photo: Reuters)

Meanwhile, another research participant, Roberto Amato, said: 'We found that this parasite has spread widely, occupying the local malaria parasite and is encroaching. ace in Vietnam, Laos as well as Northeast Thailand '.

The Guardian newspaper (UK) said 400,000 people die from malaria each year, among them mostly children in Africa. Of the 10 victims who died of malaria worldwide, up to 9 cases of Plasmodium falciparum parasites.

In addition, Miotto worries about the terrible prospect of 'migrating' resistant parasites to Africa - which now accounts for 92% of malaria cases worldwide.

DHA-PPQ drug therapy has been shown to be effective in combating Plasmodium falciparum parasites. However, doctors have noticed that the sign of Plasmodium falciparum has been resistant to the drug since 2013.

Recent research shows that DHA-PPQ is no longer effective in 87% of malaria treatment cases in Northeast Thailand. About 212 million people suffer from malaria each year. Mosquitoes containing malaria-causing parasites are the main cause of disease.

1. Demeter: Early warning system for malaria epidemic
2. How to diagnose, treat and prevent malaria