The most effective anti-malarial drug available, artemisinin, is reportedly failing to combat a new generation of malarial strand in Myanmar, a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on February 4th. Preliminary studies in Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam reportedly second the report, with indications that artemisinin-tolerant malaria is spreading in the region. Health officials put the blame on the plasmodium falciparum parasite, which may have developed a tolerance to various treatments due to the use of counterfeit drugs in the area, which expose the parasite to lower doses of anti-malarial drugs, enabling it to adapt.
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