NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, August 4, 2017

A team of researchers has adapted an existing test for falciparum malaria — the BinaxNOW malaria kit — to predict a dangerous complication that can arise after the Plasmodium falciparum parasite is cleared from patients’ blood.

While most patients who receive the drug of choice (artemisinin artesunate) against malaria recuperate, a small number (less than 5 per cent) develop a serious and often fatal anaemia called post-artesunate delayed haemolysis (PADH) within a month of treatment.

Clinicians have been unable to predict who might develop PADH which can lead to kidney failure and death, says Papa Alioune Ndour, a member of the research team from the National Institute of Blood Transfusion under the Paris Descartes University.