DRUG-RESISTANT MALARIA IN SOUTH ASIAN COUNTRIES: A REVIEW OF EVIDENCE AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OF NANOMEDICINE BASED STRATEGIES FOR PROPHYLAXIS AND TREATMENT

Kanav Midha*, Mohit, Manju Nagpal, Arvind Sharma

ABSTRACT

International experts raised the alarm over the spread of drug-resistant malaria in several Southeast Asian countries, saying it endangers major global gains in fighting the mosquito-borne disease that kills more than 600,000 people each year. The availability of therapies using the drug artemisinin has helped cut global malaria deaths by a quarter in the past decade. But over the same period, resistance to the drug emerged on Thailand’s borders with Myanmar and Cambodia and has spread tremendously. It has been detected in southern Vietnam and probably exists in southern Laos. Once it reaches a higher level of resistance where the drugs don’t work, we are technically stuffed, Scientists have been working for decades to develop a malaria vaccine, but none is yet available. To counteract this trend, research has been done in nanotechnology and nanomedicine, for the development of new biocompatible systems capable of incorporating drugs, lowering the resistance progress, contributing for diagnosis, control and treatment of malaria by target delivery. In this review, we discussed the main problems associated with the spread of malaria and the most recent developments in nanomedicine for anti-malarial drug delivery.

Keywords: Malaria, Parasite, Treatment, Nanoemulsions.