Escalating <i>Plasmodium falciparum K13</i> marker prevalence indicative of artemisinin resistance in southern Rwanda
Welmoed van Loon, Emma Schallenberg, Clement Igiraneza, Felix Habarugira, Djibril Mbarushimana, Fabian Nshimiyimana, Christian Ngarambe, Jean Baptiste Ntihumbya, Jules Ndoli, Frank P. Mockenhaupt
Abstract
ABSTRACT In 2023, we updated data collected since 2010 on Plasmodium falciparum K13 and MDR1 drug resistance markers in Huye district, southern Rwanda. Artemisinin resistance-associated PfK13 markers occurred in 17.5% of 212 malaria patients (561H, 9.0%; 675V, 5.7%; and 469F, 2.8%), nearly double the frequency from 2019. PfMDR1 N86, linked with lumefantrine tolerance, was close to fixation at 98%. In southern Rwanda, markers signaling resistance to artemisinin and lumefantrine are increasing, albeit at a relatively slow rate.
Topics & Concepts
ArtemisininPlasmodium falciparumMalariaDrug resistanceBiologyArtemether/lumefantrineVirologyMedicineMicrobiologyImmunologyMalaria Research and ControlComputational Drug Discovery MethodsMosquito-borne diseases and control