How Robust Are Malaria Parasite Clearance Rates as Indicators of Drug Effectiveness and Resistance?

ABSTRACT: Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) are currently the first-line drugs for treating uncomplicated falciparum malaria, the most deadly of the human malarias. Malaria parasite clearance rates estimated from patients' blood following ACT treatment have been widely adopted as a measure of drug effectiveness and as surveillance tools for detecting the presence of potential artemisinin resistance. This metric has not been investigated in detail, nor have its properties or potential shortcomings been identified. Herein, the pharmacology of drug treatment, parasite biology, and human immunity are combined to investigate the dynamics of parasite clearance following ACT. This approach parsimoniously recovers the principal clinical features and dynamics of clearance. Human immunity is the

SUBMITTER: Hastings IM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4576129 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature