Rapid Malaria Blood Test Helps Uncover Artemisinin Resistance

Scientists have worked to create a simple, fast and accurate test in order to determine when parasites have become resistant to malaria medications. 

According to the study, these tests can aid as a tool against the malaria parasite's ability to work against a commonly used drug used to treat the health problem, helping health officials determine the following: a patient's resistance to artemisinin, the most potent anti-malaria drug available; the resistant spread of malaria parasites from entire communities and regions that can spread via infected mosquitoes and help determine artemisinin-resistant malaria parasites.

While artemisinin-containing drugs are the most effective against fighting off malaria, researchers note that the parasite is beginning to develop resistance.

Statistics show that more than 200 million people are infected with malaria each year, with the death tolls reaching as high as 1.2 million, hitting mostly areas of sub-Saharan Africa.

To help deter this health hazard, Rick Fairhurst, a clinical investigator with the U.S. National Institutes of Health in Maryland, along with a team of Cambodian and French researchers, worked to develop a rapid blood tests that measures how quickly malaria parasites in blood samples were killed or weakened via an active ingredient in artemsinin.

Their survival was then measured after exposure to artemisinin over a 72-hour-period, at which time, if the researchers determined that the parasite was still active, it was unlikely to respond to the drug.

Parasites in blood samples were taken from people with drug-resistant infections that had a tepid response to artemisinin, including a test that could help public officials identify drug resistance.

Researchers confirmed the finding in patients infected with malaria. Parasites in blood samples also taken from people with drug-resistant infections had only a tepid response to artemisinin.

The study authors believe that this test could help public officials identify pockets of drug resistance, along with mapping the spread of the area.

More information regarding the study can be found via The Lancet Infectious Diseases.