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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the US agency that regulates drugs and foods, approved a new treatment against malaria. Tafenoquine, produced by GSK, is indicated for the recurrent form of the disease and eliminates the parasite with a single dose. A significant change over the 14 doses required in current therapy
In addition, the drug can eliminate parasites that have been hidden in the liver, thus preventing the recurrence of the disease. Malaria is an infectious disease caused by the parasite Plasmodium and transmitted by the bite of the female infected Anopheles mosquito. According to experts, Krintafel, the commercial name of the drug, is a "phenomenal success" in the fight against malaria. Its severity varies according to the species of the parasite. Although Plasmodium falciparum is one of the major species causing malaria, there has been an increase in cases of Plasmodium vivax infection over the past decade, which annually contaminates 8.5 million people in the world. the world. In Brazil, it is responsible for 85% of malaria cases, and is also prevalent in the rest of Latin America and Southeast Asia.
The new treatment
is precisely against this species that tafenoquine acts. Currently, the treatment indicated for combating the parasite is the administration of primaquine . However, since it is necessary to take it for 14 days, there is a difficulty in adhering to the treatment. It works like this: the symptoms begin to improve in the first few days of treatment, and as soon as this happens, patients stop taking the drug before completing the recommended 14-day cycle. Because of this, some parasites can remain in the body and manifest themselves again.
The new drug is able to ban the parasite with a single dose. Another advantage of tafenoquine is the ability to expel P. vivax from its hiding place in the liver, eliminating it completely from the body and avoiding the recurrence of the disease.
The fact that the parasite is "asleep" in the liver for years before it manifests itself repeatedly makes the treatment difficult. According to experts, infected people often become "reservoirs" of the disease because if the mosquito bites that has active parasites in the body, it can transmit to other individuals.
"The ability to get rid of the parasite in the liver with a single dose of tafenoquine is a phenomenal achievement, and in my opinion, it represents one of the greatest advances in the treatment of. 60 last years, "said Ric Prica, professor at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, at BBC News .
It is believed that the approval of the drug in the United States
Side Effects
Like all drugs, tafenoquine is not exempt from side effects and some of 39 For example, people with G6PD deficiency – an enzymatic problem – may develop severe anemia and therefore can not receive the new treatment. To avoid problems, the FDA recommends that patients be tested for this deficiency before starting treatment.
High doses of tafenocine may also be harmful to people with severe psychiatric problems . These factors may hinder access to treatment in the poorest areas, where malaria is most common. Despite this, it is expected that, coupled with measures to control the mosquito population, new drugs will help reduce malaria cases worldwide, according to the BBC
Tafenoquine exists since 1970, but Malaria drugs (a malaria research institute) and GSK have been researching that the drug specifically targets the elimination of parasites in the liver
Malaria
Malaria is a disease caused by infection of human red blood cells by four species of the Plasmodium unicellular parasite: Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium malarial and Plasmodium falciparum. If it is not treated, it can cause serious complications especially if it is transmitted by Plasmodium falciparum, responsible for transmission between 15% and 20% of malaria diagnosed in Brazil.
About 250 countries According to the World Health Organization, the number of new cases and the number of deaths per year are close to one million, the highest incidence being in Africa, where it represents a five out of five child deaths. In Brazil, the highest incidence is found in the Amazon, in the states of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima and Tocantins.
Malaria has a cure and can be treated as long as it occurs. Among the symptoms are: high fever, chills, tremors, sweating and headaches, which can occur cyclically. A person infected with the parasite may also experience nausea, vomiting, fatigue and a lack of appetite before the most common manifestations. In more severe cases, symptoms may include prostration (weakness), impaired consciousness, dyspnea or hyperventilation, seizures, hypotension or shock, and bleeding
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