On June 17, according to major media reports, Tu Youyou, a Chinese female scientist, and her team made a breakthrough in the problem of artemisinin resistance through in-depth study of the mechanism of malaria resistance. Over three years of scientific research, Tu Youyou's team combines anti-malarial treatment methods with the causes of drug resistance, and proposes the latest treatment options:
One is to prolong the medication time from three days to five or seven days, and the other is to replace the adjuvant drugs that have produced resistance in artemisinin combination therapy, with immediate effect.
Several studies from WHO and Southeast Asian countries have shown that in Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and other Mekong region countries, the three-day cycle of artemisinin combination therapy for malaria-infected patients shows signs of slow elimination of malaria parasites and resistance to artemisinin. The World Malaria Report 2018 predicts a 40% reduction in malaria infection and mortality by 2020. Therefore, it is urgent to break through artemisinin resistance.
However, Tu Youyou team expert Wang Gang pointed out that artemisinin is still effective in the treatment of malaria, and does not show complete resistance, but requires a longer course of treatment or other adjustments to the combined treatment regimen. He further pointed out that the next generation of antimalarials superior to artemisinins in efficacy, safety and risk of drug resistance is unlikely to emerge in a short time. Therefore, Tu Youyou's team's reasonable plan of "artemisinin resistance" is not "breakthrough", but "progress".
