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U.S. The regulators approved Friday a simpler treatment, in a single dose, to prevent the relapse of malaria.
Standard treatment now takes two weeks and studies show that many patients do not finish taking all doses.
people through mosquito bites. Antimalarial drugs can cure the initial infection, but the parasites can enter the liver, hide in a dormant form and cause recurrences months or years later. A second medication is used to stop relapses.
The new drug, Krintafel from GlaxoSmithKline (KRIN & # 39; -tah-fell), only targets the type of malaria that occurs mainly in South America and Southeast Asia. Most cases of malaria and deaths are in Africa, and they involve another species.
In tests, a dose of Krintafel worked about two weeks of standard treatment, preventing relapses in about three quarters of patients over six months, the company said.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug for patients 16 years and older, according to GlaxoSmithKline. The company said it is the first new treatment in six decades to prevent relapse.
GlaxoSmithKline plans to submit an application for approval soon in Brazil, then in other countries where the type of malaria is common. He says he will sell cheap pills in poor countries
Worldwide, malaria infects over 200 million people a year and kills about half a million, most of whom are children in Africa. It causes fever, headache, chills and other flu-like symptoms. Malaria type Krintafel targets cause approximately 8.5 million infections per year
