An analytical presentation of drug resistance in Plasmodium falciparum and guidelines to formulate a drug strategy.

ABSTRACT

The present paper describes the advantage/limitation of presently available 'in-vivo' methods to detect sensitivity status of Plasmodium falciparum to commonly used antimalarial drugs. The paper is based on a retrospective analysis of 890 P. falciparum cases and various parameters used to define the level of drug resistance. The presented quantification methodology with weightage system to different epidemiological variables of resistance may provide a guideline as to the level of parasite resistance, and a switch over to another antimalarial of firstline treatment which is of the considerable importance to provide early diagnosis and prompt treatment to avert the severe cases/deaths due to malaria.