Contrasting patterns of malaria drug resistance found between humans and mosquitoes
Tuesday, November 15, 2011 - 16:33
in Health & Medicine
A study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute and their Zambian colleagues detected contrasting patterns of drug resistance in malaria-causing parasites taken from both humans and mosquitoes in rural Zambia. Parasites found in human blood samples showed a high prevalence for pyrimethamine-resistance, which was consistent with the class of drugs widely used to treat malaria in the region. However, parasites taken from mosquitoes themselves had very low prevalence of pyrimethamine-resistance and a high prevalence of cycloguanil-resistant mutants indicating resistance to a newer class of antimalaria drug not widely used in Zambia.