New hope in treating malaria

Researchers have uncovered a promising new approach towards the treatment of malaria,  detailed in the Medicinal Journal of Chemistry.  This treatment is particularly innovative compared to our current options because of its comparative rapid action.

Gary Posner’s team at the John Hopkins Malaria institute  have succeeded in  building upon the current treatment for malaria: artemisinin combination therapy (ACT).  Artemisinin has been the world’s drug of choice against malaria since 2006, although historical records suggest that Chinese herbalists were using the compound up to 2000 years ago.  The standard administration of ACT to a patient continues over several days, whereas Posner’s version was given in a single dose.

This new ACT, combined with mefloquine, was trialled in mice .  The drug succeeded in killing all parasites present in the animal after a single administration – the scientists involved pronounced it ‘twice as effective’ as existing treatments.  The mice treated with the new ACT lived twice as long as those who were given the standard treatment.

In the case of standard multiple dose treatment, patients often fail to complete their course of drugs. This results in some  parasites surviving, which since 2006 has led to formation of drug-resistant strains of malaria.  This phenomenon has been described as a potential public health disaster.  Posner’s single dose drug eliminates the risk of drug resistance developing and this discovery has far-reaching implications.  Malaria has a devastating effect worldwide; according to WHO, the disease causes  one million deaths each year.  Over half of the world’s population are at risk of infection.   Thus if Posner’s drug proves to be as effective in patient trials, the global burden of this disease could be drastically reduced.