![]() To tackle this problem, researchers are investigating potential antimalarial drugs with multiple targets to overwhelm the parasite and reduce resistance development. The current drugs are becoming less effective as the parasite develops resistance against them. This is because parasites develop resistance. Antimalarial drugs that are widely used have a limited usable lifespan. The challenge is that the world is running out of usable antimalarial drugs. But to prevent the spread of the disease in a community, these drugs also have to kill transmissible versions of the parasite that develop. To eliminate malaria and alleviate the disease scientists have to develop drugs that kill the parasite in the blood. The heaviest burden is in Africa where an estimated 90% of malaria deaths occur. ![]() Today at least 3.3 billion people, or almost half of the world’s population, are at risk of contracting malaria. ![]() Although the first confirmed case of human malaria dates to 450 AD, a millennia and a half later, the world is still battling the parasite that causes this disease. Malaria is a killer that has spent thousands of years adapting to the habits of its victim. ![]() You can read the rest of the series here. This article is part of a series The Conversation Africa is running during malaria week in the Southern African Development Community.
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