Ten-year persistence and evolution of Plasmodium falciparum antifolate and anti-sulfonamide resistance markers pfdhfr and pfdhps in three Asian countries.

Background: The amplification of GTP cyclohydrolase 1 (pfgch1) in Plasmodium falciparum has been linked to the upregulation of the pfdhfr and pfdhps genes associated with resistance to the antimalarial drug sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. During the 1990s and 2000s, sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine was withdrawn from use as first-line treatment in southeast Asia due to clinical drug resistance. This study assessed the temporal and geographic changes in the prevalence of pfdhfr and pfdhps gene mutations and pfgch1 amplification a decade after sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine had no longer been widely used.

Molecular epidemiology of resistance to antimalarial drugs in the Greater Mekong subregion: an observational study.

Background: The Greater Mekong subregion is a recurrent source of antimalarial drug resistance in Plasmodium falciparum malaria. This study aimed to characterise the extent and spread of resistance across this entire region between 2007 and 2018.

Methods: P falciparum isolates from Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia were obtained from clinical trials and epidemiological studies done between Jan 1, 2007, and Dec 31, 2018, and were genotyped for molecular markers (pfkelch, pfcrt, pfplasmepsin2, and pfmdr1) of antimalarial drug resistance.

The spread of artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum in the Greater Mekong subregion: a molecular epidemiology observational study.

Background: Evidence suggests that the PfKelch13 mutations that confer artemisinin resistance in falciparum malaria have multiple independent origins across the Greater Mekong subregion, which has motivated a regional malaria elimination agenda. We aimed to use molecular genotyping to assess antimalarial drug resistance selection and spread in the Greater Mekong subregion.

Methods: In this observational study, we tested Plasmodium falciparum isolates from Myanmar, northeastern Thailand, southern Laos, and western Cambodia for PfKelch13 mutations and for Pfplasmepsin2 gene amplification (indicating piperaquine resistance).

An outbreak of artemisinin resistant falciparum malaria in Eastern Thailand.

Artemisinin resistant falciparum malaria is an increasing problem in Southeast Asia, but has not been associated with increased transmission of the disease, yet. During a recent outbreak in 2014 in Ubon Ratchatani, Eastern Thailand, parasites from 101 patients with falciparum malaria were genotyped for antimalarial drug resistance markers. Mutations in the Kelch13 marker for artemisinin resistance were present in 93% of samples, mainly C580Y from 2 major clusters as identified by microsatellite typing.