Podcast 519: Malaria Drug Resistance

Contributor: John Winkler

Educational Pearls:

• There is increasing resistance to antimalarial drugs, especially in P. falciparum. This trend started with chloroquine, but is now spreading to the other first-line drugs.
• Resistant strains have been identified in Cambodia and Thailand
• 220 million people were infected last year
• The best treatment of malaria is prevention from bites - DEET and permethrin are typical effective options.
• Permethrin may be applied to clothing items before travel, and will last through 6-8 wash cycles.
• While malaria is rare in the US, it should be considered in those having recently travelled

References

Hamilton WL, Amato R, van der Pluijm RW, et al. Evolution and expansion of multidrug-resistant malaria in southeast Asia: a genomic epidemiology study. Lancet Infect Dis. 2019;19(9):943–951. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(19)30392-5

Summarized by Will Dewispelaere, MS4 | Edited by Erik Verzemnieks, MD