AFRO-NETS> Malaria: German Researchers Announce Success in Drug Tests

[Dieter Neuvians MD <neuvians@mweb.co.za>]

Malaria: German Researchers Announce Success in Drug Tests
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Scientists from the University of Tübingen in Germany have announced 
promising results from tests of a malaria treatment in Gabon, saying 
some studies had resulted in a nearly 90 percent recovery rate, BBC 
Online reported today:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2572165.stm

Researchers said tests of an antibiotic, fosmidomycin, suggest it 
works by stopping the parasite that causes malaria from producing an 
essential chemical. Within two weeks, some groups reported at least a 
60 percent recovery rate, while others reported a rate as high as 89 
percent.

"These data suggest that fosmidomycin is a safe and effective treat-
ment for malaria in adult Africans if given for four days or more," 
researcher Peter Kremsner wrote in The Lancet, although he cautioned 
there is a potential increased risk of the patient infecting others 
after taking the drug.

Fosmidomycin for malaria
Lancet 2002; 360: 1941-42, (14 December 2002):
http://www.thelancet.com/journal/vol360/iss9349/full/llan.360.9349.original_research.23556.1

He also said study groups so far have been small and that the team 
wants to test the drug on children. It is estimated that a child dies 
from Malaria every 30 seconds in sub-Saharan Africa. 

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