London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

The importation of resistance to the anti-malarial drugs pyrimethamine and sulphadoxine is far more widespread than previously thought, a study published in The Lancet reveals.

The paper, by Dr Cally Roper of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, indicates that although drug resistance appears to develop slowly, once it has established it spreads very rapidly through populations across the entire South East African region, making the ongoing development of effective new treatments an absolute priority if resistant malaria is to be contained in years to come.

'A very important threat to new drugs or drug combinations could be posed by importation of resistant or multi-drug resistant parasites that have already occurred elsewhere', explains Dr Roper. 'A priority for future planning is further research into the extent of spread of genetic determinants of resistance, and the potential of combination therapy for arresting or slowing this process'.

To interview Dr Roper, or for more information, please contact the School's Press Office on 020 7927 2073/07941 294885.

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