Malaria Drugs Stop Working Due to Genetic Mutation in Africa
Image generated by Rahim Kara on stablediffusion - https://stabledifffusion.com/
Media Source: Zmiany na Ziemi.
Date: 9 December 2024
Doctors from Africa, the UK and the US have discovered a worrying phenomenon in Uganda – severe cases of malaria that are resistant to standard treatment. Research has shown that the cause is a mutation in the KELCH13 gene of Plasmodium, the parasite that causes malaria. A group of scientists led by Professor Robert Op
Doctors from Africa, the UK and the US have discovered a worrying phenomenon in Uganda – severe cases of malaria that are resistant to standard treatment. Research has shown that the cause is a mutation in the KELCH13 gene of Plasmodium, the parasite that causes malaria. A group of scientists led by Professor Robert Opoka of the Aga Khan University of Medical Sciences in Kenya monitored the health of 100 minor patients in Uganda who contracted malaria between 2021 and 2022. All of them received WHO-recommended treatment, including injections of artesunate, a derivative of artemisinin. However, in 11 cases, the drug proved ineffective or its effect was much weaker than normal.