Drug-resistant Malaria Sparks Alert

The emergence of a strain of drug-resistant malaria parasites in Cambodia has sparked an alert among health care providers.  Malaria is a major killer claiming more than a million each year.  For those infected but not cured, the parasites continue to cause sickness and debility.

The region of Cambodia where the drug resistant malaria parasites have been detected has hosted drug resistant malaria parasites in the past.  The most effective current drug artesunate has been in widespread use for only a decade.  This has prompted a warning from the World Health Organisation that the battle to eradicate malaria faces a major threat.
Malaria parasites(Plasmodia) attack red blood cells, entering the body by way of the female mosquito when she bites.
Drug resistance in the malaria parasite is achieved when some but not all the parasites are killed by the medication.  Those more resistant Plasmodia that are left are able to reproduce more easily because competition has been eliminated.
Malaria is currently found most often in warm climates and is common in Asia, South Pacific, South America and Africa.  Historically malaria has been in Europe and N. America as well.  With climate change and  warming of many areas, the danger remains that malaria may not only not be eradicated, it may make a comeback.