Deadly Falciparum on the rise in India
According to a study published in a 2004 issue of Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, the proportion of malaria cases in India – which suffers over 1 million malaria cases every year – that result from falciparum as opposed to vivax infections is on the rise. In 1979, the ratio of falciparum to vivax infections was 50-50; now falciparum has overtaken vivax by 70-30. The authors attribute this to the spread of chloroquine-resistant falciparum. That is, while vivax infections are stanched by the still widely used chloroquine, resistant strains of falciparum are not.
Falciparum is a much more virulent and deadly strain of malaria than vivax, so this is a worrying trend.
Anyone who has spent any time in India knows that self-medication is common and cheap (sometimes counterfeit and often substandard) drugs are widely available. Since malaria is commonly considered similarly to how Westerners view the flu or even the common cold, it seems likely that resistant strains of malaria will continue to spread, under the radar, unless government officials are able to exert adequate oversight on the distribution of drugs.
For more
Neeru Singh et al, “The changing dynamics of Plasmodium vivax and P. falciparum in Central India: Trends over a 27-year period,” Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, Vol. 4, No. 3, 2004
