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Using mathematical modelling to fight malaria

Researchers have created a mathematical model to predict genetic resistance to antimalarial drugs in Africa to manage one of the biggest threats to global malarial control.

Medical Center in Conakry, Guinea © Dominic Chavez, World Bank

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites and spread to humans through infected mosquitos. It is preventable and curable, yet resistance to current antimalarial drugs is causing avoidable loss of life. The World Health Organisation estimated there were 241 million cases of malaria worldwide in 2020, with more than 600,000 deaths.

An international research team used data from the WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN), a global, scientifically independent collaboration, to map the prevalence of genetic markers that indicate resistance to Plasmodium falciparum – the parasite that causes malaria.

The full story is available on the WWARN website

Read the publication 'Spatiotemporal spread of Plasmodium falciparum mutations for resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine across Africa, 1990–2020' on the PLOS Computational Biology website

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