Novartis, the makers of Coartem, a drug used in the treatment of Malaria, has allayed fears over the efficacy of artemisinin-based malaria treatments.
A spokesperson for the company, Laura Daunis, said in a statement obtained by the Pan African News Agency (PANA)in Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi yesterday (Wednesday) that the combination of artemether and lumefantrine in Coartem helps to minimise the development of resistance of the malaria parasite to treatment using Coartem.
She explained that the artemether component causes a quick knock-down of the malaria parasites in the bloodstream, while the lumefantrine has a longer-lasting effect on the malaria parasite.
A recent study reported in the medical journal Lancet documented high cure rates of over 97 per cent using the drug.
But a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) raised doubts about the long-term effectiveness of Coartem and other artemisinin-based malaria treatments.
According to reports, the discovery of two cases in Cambodia of a malaria strain resistant to artemisinin has raised fears among researchers about the drug, regarded as a first line treatment.
The reports have also said treatments containing artemesinin are also taking longer to clear the malaria parasite from the blood, which is another indication that the parasite is becoming tolerant to the drug.
But the company spokesperson said while monotherapy treatment could cause resistance, but Coartem is a combination drug and helps to fight the malaria parasite on all fronts.
Daunis disclosed that Novartis is also working on the next generation of malaria treatments at its nonprofit research institute in New York, the Novartis Institute of Tropical Diseases (NITD).
Malaria still poses a serious challenge to African economies as it is seen as a major cause of mortality for children below the age of five years.
It is also causing complication in HIV research given its high level of morbidity on those who contract the malaria parasite.
The situation is further exacerbated by the high prevalence of mosquitoes that are vectors of the parasite that causes malaria.
Tropical regions of the world, and Africa especially, provide the right environment for mosquito breeding.
Research in a malaria vaccine has not succeeded after many attempts by researchers, though recent reports said great progress has been made.
Artemesinin, which is obtained from the Chinese herb, Artemisia annua, has been used in China to treat fevers for over 2,000 years.
Four years ago, East African countries adopted Artemesinin-Lumefantrine, a combination drug manufactured by the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis and marketed under the brand name Coartem, as a first-line treatment for malaria.
This followed World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations about efficacy of the Coartem in treating the disease.
ZANIS/PANA/ENDS
Malaria is a number 2 killer disease in africa
Interesting article. Let me read again.
Malaria is still available 😕
1. Anonymous
and you are numbala l-)
I get your point!!
Nine Chale, watch TV mudala!! Not just pa LT :-b !!
Awe Mudala wandi :-j:-j:-j:-j:-j
Anyways let me read!!
This is not strange as a malaria parasite is subject to a lot of mutations, no wonder new drugs must keep on being developed to target for those mutational changes.Too bad
5. Mo taim
you are Numbala l-)
you just forgot to type your name tefyo? It happens when you are too quick to be the first one. Anyways congrats!!
=))=))=))
Women are the first killers. Especially maureen,cutey, lisa and suppergal.
Iwe Jmaco am from watching the news. Nothing much going on so the PC is always on…waishiba? l-)
Numbala 1, 5 and 7 please do not pull a hully over our heads!! You have already revealed your self at 5 mudala!!
Just wait until Ba Maureen and Cutey come!! You will be dealt with. =))=))=))=))
There are only three people here so far. Me , Nine Chale and You!! :d
Jam@ko
Nondishishako umunsoli ati kuli new thread sure.
10. Matworld-Nice guy!
Matworld… mulishani mudala ?
I really did not know that there was a new one ..
styopet munkwala kuchipatala bachite mushe . Mwana maskito yamu usiku maningi , mwana adwala malalia too much .
Hi jam@co am not the one on the first and seventh position otherwise me i dont believe in attacking characters and also i dont believe in being annonymous to express something the two flaggs similarity is just a coincidence otherwise i always take my time to read and make an objective judgement before typing.Have a pleasant evening
13. Mo taim 😕
Yes jam@co ati shani,how is gereman today i leant one germany word i think it was zusammen and i understand it means together tell me is that so
#9 Bushe ali kwi ? He’s the same guy. Ashuka we are nearing Valentines pantu kuti twamupwa.
Malaria is bad news.
Iwe chi maureen,pakwanwa kwati milonge.kuti wapwa ine?
#18 Muleyumfwila uluse. I will turn you into a cyber i.d.i.o.t !
#19, you are a w.h.o.r.e! B.i.t.c.h is your name! A.s.s
Husband snatcher ,maureen
Why not call of kid zone?
LT Please for Moderation’s sake !! Delete the insults in 20!!
Please Please please
Maureen is a man
IT IS VERY MUCH OBVIOUS THAT IF A PERSON APPEARS ON DIFFERENT THREADS ( AROUND THIS TIME) AND GOES ANONYMOUS ON SOME THREADS AND THEN POST INSULTS , THAT WE ARE ABLE TO PICK YOU OUT WITHOUT EVENT TRACING YOUR IP!!! YOUR FLAG UNVEILS YOU!! PLS NO INSULTS ON THIS BLOG
Anonymous.Real Bloggers dont insult. I wont retaliate coz i know that ignoring an embicile is the best revenge ! Meanwhile, logoff coz your Dad wants to use the Dial-up line also
#25 Walasa ! Mwebe uyu mwankole !
25
You little sadi. Have a life.
#25 Youre 100% on the mark. We know the Real LT Posse. Not these maggots who just chance their father-in-laws laptop and start insulting Bloggers who God has given the power to reason.
LETS IGNORE THE IMPOSTERS AND LINK UP AT ANOTHER THREAD !
27. Ba Dr Maureen
I will retire now. Imwe kuti mulelanda nabantu naba kolwa or nabapepa ne bange!! Bambi balikwata ama problems ati they are illegal uko eko baba.Ninshi balafisama naba kapokola! So let us feel sorry for them than join them in their frustration. Cheers until tomorrow :-h:-h:-h
27
Balls hanging
Peace please .we all need peace on this blogg
YOURS IN LOVE
PEACE MAKER >:d<>:d<>:d<>:d< @};-@};-@};-
Bama dial-up mailo ZAMTEL (Under Liquidation) ninshi yashimya
Goodnight Jam@co
Tushile LT nensokanda ishibene Analyst and other related h.o.m.o.s
32
Another maureen with even bigger balls.
33
Why call yourself maureen when you mouth stinks?
#32
you are a sado
Ba dr maureen?
meant 34
At least i have balls not you with nothing not even a hole
38
balls like your friend maureen.
#39
Are sure you are normal ? :o:o:o:o you need JESUS in your small life . [-o<[-o<[-o<[-o<[-o< .STOP AND THINK.
gone to sleep?
I guess you sleep in the loft :d:d:d:d
Lt gone to investigate analyst.
Yes I do. How did u know I sleep in the attic?
Spring chicken. Seen you busy trying to catch me. You won’t. I have 6 iPhones.
Bye
Some how ba L.T. I commend you for taking heed of some comments your bloggers make and I am not talking from without.
But let us make this point very clear.
1. Malaria is in Zedi to stay. Zedians live in mosquito inhabitants.(zones)(dwellings)(mosquito villages).Period.
Eradication is history.. HIV can bee eradicated easily,,ubupubafye bwa abantu.
2.Resistant to malaria occurs due to reinfection of the malaria parasite. You kill parasites today next week there are fresh ones..and I mean stronger ones.. I am simplifying my statements in here..:)>-**==**==>:d<:-?
#45
I won’t waste my time on a dipstick like you. peace 8-|8-|8-| :@):@):@):@):@)
true you are spring chicken
~:>~:> =))=))=))
Thot you said you were going?
#9,
Ba labenikofye abo.
Kubachindika epela insoni shabekata.
Why fight for no reason?
I have no reason to quarrel with faceless characters.. Just sending a million@};-@};-@};-@};-@};-@};-@};-@};-@};-@};-@};-@};-@};-@};-:x:x:x:xfor valentines day to numala #7 as maybe no one is able to do so:x:x=))=))
pipo r busy making useless comments:-@:-@:-@wen ther is something critical to talk about,this is 2009 wen r we goina change[-x[-x
Yes, I have also wondered about the effectiveness of coartem. Once I had malaria, malaria ‘Plus’ they told me, and was given coartem against my wishes. I prefer fansidar because it works for me. After finishing the coartem course, I was not getting better at all. Two weeks later I still had the malaria plus, but this time I insisted i be given something else, and was given quinine which worked.
Let the manufacturers of coartem go back to their drawing boards and do more research on this drug before it wipes out what has remained of the Zambian population after HIV/AIDS and hunger.
Africa is a testing ground. you guys are being used as guinea remember what Pfizer did in Nigeria. so far more 84 kids have died! Unfortunately the pathological corruption that inflicts our people makes its people very vulnerable to this dangerous drugs. remember the story of that American crook in collaboration with the unscrupulous Dr ngoma peddling an insecticide as cure for AIDS? This can only happen in Africa! ooh mama Africa what are they doing to you!!
Most condoms are contaminated with viruses which cause diseases in female private area. I know alot women in Zambia use Condoms. This is according to DR Afrika on Youtube Google him up make sense to me. There is more free condoms than food.
our hope and wishes are in God