Rise in Immunity Spurs International Concern

"Malaria is still a devastating disease, with nearly 250 million cases and more than one million deaths every year. Mosquitoes have developed resistance to existing insecticides and there is evidence of emerging resistance by the parasite to the drugs used to treat the disease.”-Professor Steve Ward, Deputy Director, of LSTM reports



Potential impact due to widespread use of artemisinins:

• 22 million untreatable cases
• 230,000 additional cases
• $146 million medical costs
• $385 million cost due to productivity loss 
• $500 million total economic impact
• undermining decades of economic development to fight malaria

Insecticide resistance

Malaria prevention to this point has relied heavily on insecticide usage, which is commonly incorporated into mosquito nets. The future of vaccine development also relies on vector control. Recently, however, resistance to insecticides has become a major public health concern. Overuse of insecticides forces faster-than usual evolutionary adaptation to produce a genetic makeup that can withstand the mode of action.

Areas of India and sub-Saharan Africa are especially concerning due to high levels of malaria transmission accompanied by reports of resistance to insecticide. Detection of resistance is essential to combatting the propagation and spread of such mosquitoes, and will inform the use of different insecticides that will be effective. Overuse of any one insecticide leads to high resistivity in the target population. The susceptibility of target vectors range from one mosquito strain to another.  

Rapid response to the threat of insecticide resistance is key, and the WHO is working with many organizations to develop the Global Plan for Insecticide Resistance Management in Malaria Vectors (GPIRM). This will also provide information that will be vital to the development of effective vaccines in the coming years.