WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, artemisinin, a drug to treat malaria, is becoming less effective in young children in Africa.
The study, which followed children treated in a hospital in Uganda for malaria, found that one in ten patients is becoming resistant to artemisinin.
'This is the first study from Africa showing that children with malaria and clear signs of severe disease are experiencing at least partial resistance to artemisinin,' said study co-author Dr. Chandy John of Indiana University.
'It's also the first study showing a high rate of African children with severe malaria experiencing a subsequent malaria episode with the same strain within 28 days of standard treatment with artesunate, a derivative of artemisinin, and an artemisinin combination therapy or ACT.'
The study also focused on a group of another ten children who suffered an attack from the same strain of malaria within a month, after getting cured of the infection, suggesting that combination of artemisinin with another malaria drug called lumefantrine is not working effectively.
'The fact that we started seeing evidence of drug resistance before we even started specifically looking for it is a troubling sign,' John added.
'We were further surprised that, after we turned our focus to resistance, we also ended up finding patients who had recurrence after we thought they had been cured.'
The findings will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in New Orleans.
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