Is it Time to Change Malaria Treatment Policy?
The Argument from a Resistance Perspective By Rachel Nugent, with support from Alix Beith and Scott Kniaz I am finding it hard to choose a side on the recent malaria treatment policy debate. It is clear that current anti-malarial treatment policy which dictates that, in high-transmission settings, children under five that have a fever are given anti-malarials is certainly not optimal. Children with fevers not caused by malaria may suffer side-effects from taking unnecessary anti-malarial drugs and are also not being treated for what ails them. Additionally, excessive use of anti-malarials drives emergence of drug-resistant strains of the malaria parasite, which can then be transmitted to the larger community. Malaria drug resistance is a world-wide problem. All over the globe, once extremely effective drugs like chloroquine can no longer get the job done, with resistance levels as high as 80% in Latin America. In fact, the deadliest malaria parasite, P. falciparum, has shown resistance
