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Drugs
Published in: Drugs 9/2002

01-06-2002 | Current Opinion

Combination Therapy for Malaria

The Way Forward?

Authors: Dr François Nosten, Philippe Brasseur

Published in: Drugs | Issue 9/2002

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Abstract

Unless new strategies are deployed to combat malaria, the already enormous health and economic burden related to the disease in tropical countries is bound to worsen. The main obstacle to malaria control is the emergence of drug resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum. As for HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, the use of combinations of antimalarial drugs reduces the risk of selecting for resistant mutants of the plasmodial parasites. In large field trials, the combination of an artemisinin derivative and a partner drug with an unrelated mode of action (in this case mefloquine), has shown a remarkable double effect: preventing the emergence and spread of drug resistance, and interrupting the transmission of P. falciparum. This has opened the way for a new approach to the deployment of antimalarial drugs. Coupled with early detection and confirmed diagnosis, this strategy represents the only way forward in the chemotherapy of malaria. Massive economic assistance will be needed to detect and treat adequately the estimated 500 million cases of malaria per year, but without radical action there is no prospect of ‘Rolling Back’ malaria.
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Metadata
Title
Combination Therapy for Malaria
The Way Forward?
Authors
Dr François Nosten
Philippe Brasseur
Publication date
01-06-2002
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Published in
Drugs / Issue 9/2002
Print ISSN: 0012-6667
Electronic ISSN: 1179-1950
DOI
https://doi.org/10.2165/00003495-200262090-00003

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