Malaria Resistance ‘Unable to Spread’

Friday, April 15, 2016

The first case of the malaria parasite being unable to spread its resistance to drugs has been discovered by scientists in Australia.

Tests showed the parasite can learn to shrug off the effects of the drug atovaquone, but in doing so it cripples a later part of its life cycle.

The team at the University of Melbourne hope the “genetic trap” will lead to new ways of curbing malaria.

They are aiming to perform field tests in Kenya and Zambia.

Atovaquone was introduced in 2000, but it became less popular when resistance was almost immediately detected.

Source: BBC (link opens in a new window)

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Health Care
Tags
infectious diseases