Malaria Cases in Bangladesh Drops But Health Officials Fear New Strain’s Possible Resistance To Artemisinin Pills

Bangladesh is doing great when it comes to its fight against malaria. However, health officials don't think the disease will be eliminated completely and even fear a potential new strain.

Malaria Cases in Bangladesh

Asha Gudin, who lives with his family, suffered from a fever and felt awful after a construction job along the Myanmar border last month. Bulbul Aktar, a community health worker who works with other women and visits the residents' door-to-door to treat malaria, tested Gudin for malaria and the result was positive. She gave him a medicine called artemisinin and he recovered fully after three days.

Health workers have been giving patients the said drug because it reportedly works wonders against malaria. Dr. Ching Swe Phru, who's devoted his life to treating patients with malaria in Bangladesh, also described artemisinin as a "marvelous drug" and a "perfect drug."

Kasturi Haldar, a microbiologist at the University of Notre Dame who studies the malarial parasite, is also impressed with the drug and finds it "pretty remarkable." According to Hadar, a typical patient with a high fever and unbearable pain typically responds to the first four artemisinin pills in just 12 hours. After taking the pill, the patients' fever is gone, which is an impressive outcome.

Between 2008 and 2020, the number of malaria infections in Bangladesh fell by 93% due to artemisinin. It enabled policymakers in Bangladesh and other countries in the region to conceive the daring goal of eradicating malaria.

According to Mushfiqur Rahman, who works with Bangladesh's National Malaria Elimination Program, the Prime Minister and Health Minister are committed to eliminating malaria. They expect to get rid of the disease by 2030. However, the life-threatening disease is persistent.

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Artemisinin-Resistant Malaria Strain

In the neighboring country Myanmar, a strain of the parasite resistant to artemisinin was discovered. Health officials are concerned that a resistant strain could soon appear in Bangladesh.

Dr. Phru advises the residents to stay vigilant and acknowledges that the artemisinin-resistant strain is terrifying. The parasites have an innate propensity to resist the lethal medication. Malaria has "a certain history of coming back," he added.

Humanity has been tormented by the malarial parasite for thousands of years. According to Haldar, the presence of malaria has had a significant impact on our blood, enabling us to develop natural defense mechanisms.

However, malaria still kills over 600,000 people a year, largely in Africa, despite centuries of efforts to combat the disease. As our climate changes, the disease's geographic reach is growing, enabling the mosquitoes that spread it to live in formerly inhospitable places like the higher elevations of Ethiopia, Colombia, and parts of Asia.

Malaria is a fatal illness that is most common in tropical nations. It is treatable and preventable. However, a case of simple malaria can develop into a severe illness, which is frequently fatal without treatment if quick diagnosis and good treatment are not provided. It is not contagious.

Female Anopheles mosquitoes that bite humans can spread the disease. Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, two of the parasite species that can cause malaria in humans, are the most dangerous. Malaria is caused by five different parasite species. Anopheles mosquitoes come in more than 400 species, and about 40 are considered vector species because they can spread disease.

The likelihood of infection varies by location depending on a number of variables, including the species of local mosquitoes. Seasonal variations are also possible, with the danger in tropical nations being greatest during the rainy season.