Artemisinin

The study was undertaken in Enugu state, southeast Nigeria in March 2009. Data was collected from heads of 74 public and private health facilities on the availability and use of RDTs and ACTs. Also, the availability of RDTs and the types of ACTs that were available in the facilities were documented.

Artemisia annua is currently the only commercial source of the sesquiterpene lactone artemisinin.Since artemisinin was discovered as the active component of A. annua in early 1970s, hundreds of papers have focused on the anti-parasitic effects of artemisinin and its semi-synthetic analogs dihydroartemisinin, artemether, arteether, and artesunate.

We report the perceptions of malaria and malaria treatment behaviour, the community awareness of and perceptions about AS-AQ two years after the introduction of this ACT treatment for malaria.

Use of RDTs by CMDs is likely to be acceptable by community members given that CMDs are properly trained, and receive regular technical supervision and logistical support. A well-designed behaviour change communication strategy is needed to address the anticipated programmatic challenges as well as community fears and stigma about drawing blood.

Drug resistance in malaria and in tuberculosis (TB) are major global health problems. Although the terms multidrug-resistant TB and extensively drug-resistant TB are precisely defined, the term multidrug resistance is often loosely used when discussing malaria.

This study showed stable levels of P. falciparum sensitivity to artemisinin compounds in the two sites over a ten-year period.

Amplification of pfmdr1 in Plasmodium falciparum is linked to resistance to aryl-amino-alcohols and in reduced susceptibility to artemisinins.

The public health and private retail sector are important complementary sources of treatment in rural Tanzania. Ensuring the availability of ALu in the private retail sector is important for its successful uptake.

We review the evidence for the relative benefits and disadvantages of the existing separate treatment approach versus a unified ACT-based strategy for treating Plasmodium falciparum and P vivax infections in regions where both species are endemic (co-endemic).

Malaria continues to be a major threat to global health. Artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) is the recommended treatment for clinical malaria; however, recent reports of parasite resistance to artemisinin in certain malaria-endemic areas have stressed the need for developing more efficacious ACT.