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Malaria expert warns of need for malaria drug to treat severe cases in US

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  • Malaria expert warns of need for malaria drug to treat severe cases in US

    Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea...-mew081319.php


    News Release 19-Aug-2019
    Malaria expert warns of need for malaria drug to treat severe cases in US
    Increased global travel gives rise to US-based malaria cases and need for better access to intravenous treatment
    University of Maryland School of Medicine

    BALTIMORE, MD, August 20 - Each year there are more than 200 million cases of malaria worldwide, a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite that brings on fever and body aches and, in some cases, more serious conditions such as coma and death. While the vast majority of these cases occur in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the U.S. each year sees more than 1,500 cases, and currently there is limited access to an intravenously-administered (IV) drug needed for the more serious cases, according to a top malaria researcher at the University of Maryland School Medicine (UMSOM).

    Treatment for severe malaria cases is an intravenous-administered (IV) form of quinidine gluconate. However, there is no longer a widely available supply of this drug in IV form in the United States, warned Mark Travassos, MD, MSc, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at UMSOM and scientist at the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health (CVD), in a commentary published in Annals of Internal Medicine today. Oral doses of quinidine are available, but they are not typically effective in more serious malaria cases, he said.

    "Severe malaria is a medical emergency that requires immediate treatment with IV medication to reduce the risk of death," said Dr. Travassos, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist and malaria expert in UMSOM's Malaria Research Program within the CVD. Dr. Travassos cited 2015 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics showing more than 1,500 malaria cases in the U.S., of which 259 were serious and needed IV treatment. Now, with increased global interconnectedness, the rate of U.S. malaria cases is indeed rising steadily over the past 40 years, according to the CDC...
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