New Malaria Drug
According to the researchers, the medication commonly used to combat river blindness can also kill the parasite that spreads malaria. This could save millions of lives.
Ivermectin is a drug discovered from the Streptomyces avermitilis in 1975. It has now for more than two decades been used to kill parasites including worms, lice, mites, and nematodes. Ivermectin works by disrupting the fluid exchange through the insect’s cell membrane.
Experts Scientists now say that the -New Malaria Drug- which is Ivermectin-based could be released within two years.
Recently, researchers had reported that vaccine clinical trials in Burkina Faso using Ivermectin for conditions unrelated to malaria had also seen malarial transmission rates drop significantly. Further research revealed that Ivermectin was proved to be lethal to Plasmodium falciparum, the malaria parasite carried by female Anopheles mosquitoes.
Dr. Simon Kariuki, head of the malaria branch at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri), said that they are planning for human trials using this new malarial drug. He highlighted that further research needs to be done on Ivermectin. Showing concerns about the growing malarial drug resistance, Dr. Simon said that new medicines are the need of the hour.
A Far-Fetched Goal- Can we Combat Malaria?
According to some reports, deaths from malaria have dropped by roughly 48% since 2000. In 2017, the deadly disease killed 435,000 people worldwide. Recent studies in August this year highlighted that resistance to existing old antimalarial drugs is increasing worldwide.
However, a paper published by the Yale School of Public Health earlier in 2019 explained that child malaria could be reduced by up to 20%. This could be achieved if populations living in high-risk areas were administered Ivermectin. This report supports the efficacy of the New Malaria Drug- Ivermectin. Expert Scientists in the field of malarial research should team up to help fight this global massacre.
