The emergence of a new strain of highly drug-resistant malaria in
Cambodia, Thailand and Laos could have devastating consequences on a global scale,
a study published Thursday in The Lancet medical journal reveals.
The Bangkok-based Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine
Research Unit (MORU) said in a statement that research found a new line of the
multidrug-resistant P. falciparum malaria established in Cambodia that
“represents a serious threat to global malaria control and eradication
efforts”.
“We now see this very successful resistant parasite
lineage emerging, outcompeting its peers, and spreading over a wide area,” said
Arjen Dondorp, head of MORU’s malaria program.
Failure rates in treating this strain are high
because of its resistance to two of the main drugs that are typically
administered for cases of malaria.
Researchers said Cambodia and its neighbors had to
intensify their efforts to curb its spread, because its potential presence in
sub-Saharan Africa and India “would be a global health disaster”.
The new strain, which was found in blood samples
collected in Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos, is a mutation of an older
form of this line of malaria.
“It appears to be fitter, more transmissible and
spreading more widely,” the study said, adding that the last time a similar
parasite spread rapidly, “it killed millions”.
A spokeswoman at the Health Ministry referred
questions to the National Center for Parasitology and Malaria Control, which
could not be reached.
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