Plasmodium falciparum resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in Africa: a systematic analysis of national trends

Introduction The rising burden of drug resistance is a major challenge to the global fight against malaria. We estimated national Plasmodium falciparum resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) across Africa, from 2000 to 2020.Methods We assembled molecular, clinical and endemicity data covering...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Floriano Amimo, Anthony Magit, Jahit Sacarlal, Kenji Shibuya, Masahiro Hashizume
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2020-11-01
Series:BMJ Global Health
Online Access:https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/11/e003217.full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850245267591266304
author Floriano Amimo
Anthony Magit
Jahit Sacarlal
Kenji Shibuya
Masahiro Hashizume
author_facet Floriano Amimo
Anthony Magit
Jahit Sacarlal
Kenji Shibuya
Masahiro Hashizume
author_sort Floriano Amimo
collection DOAJ
description Introduction The rising burden of drug resistance is a major challenge to the global fight against malaria. We estimated national Plasmodium falciparum resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) across Africa, from 2000 to 2020.Methods We assembled molecular, clinical and endemicity data covering malaria-endemic African countries up to December 2018. Subsequently, we reconstructed georeferenced patient data, using pfdhps540E and pfdhps581G to measure mid-level and high-level SP resistance. Gaussian process regression was applied to model spatiotemporal standardised prevalence.Results In eastern Africa, mid-level SP resistance increased by 64.0% (95% uncertainty interval, 30.7%–69.8%) in Tanzania, 55.4% (31.3%–65.2%) in Sudan, 45.7% (16.8%–54.3%) in Mozambique, 29.7% (10.0%–45.2%) in Kenya and 8.7% (1.4%–36.8%) in Malawi from 2000 to 2010. This was followed by a steady decline of 76.0% (39.6%–92.6%) in Sudan, 65.7% (25.5%–85.6%) in Kenya and 17.4% (2.6%–37.5%) in Tanzania from 2010 to 2020. In central Africa, the levels increased by 28.9% (7.2%–62.5%) in Equatorial Guinea and 85.3% (54.0%–95.9%) in the Congo from 2000 to 2020, while in the other countries remained largely unchanged. In western Africa, the levels have remained low from 2000 to 2020, except for Nigeria, with a reduction of 14.4% (0.7%–67.5%) and Mali, with an increase of 7.0% (0.8%–25.6%). High-level SP resistance increased by 5.5% (1.0%–20.0%) in Malawi, 4.7% (0.5%–25.4%) in Kenya and 2.0% (0.1%–39.2%) in Tanzania, from 2000 to 2020.Conclusion Under the WHO protocols, SP is no longer effective for intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy and infancy in most of eastern Africa and parts of central Africa. Strengthening health systems capacity to monitor drug resistance at subnational levels across the endemicity spectrum is critical to achieve the global target to end the epidemic.
format Article
id doaj-art-e05462523de14be295cd2578821286fa
institution OA Journals
issn 2059-7908
language English
publishDate 2020-11-01
publisher BMJ Publishing Group
record_format Article
series BMJ Global Health
spelling doaj-art-e05462523de14be295cd2578821286fa2025-08-20T01:59:30ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Global Health2059-79082020-11-0151110.1136/bmjgh-2020-003217Plasmodium falciparum resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in Africa: a systematic analysis of national trendsFloriano Amimo0Anthony Magit1Jahit Sacarlal2Kenji Shibuya3Masahiro Hashizume4Faculty of Medicine, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, MozambiqueHuman Research Protection Program, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, University of California System, San Diego, California, USAFaculty of Medicine, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique1 Department of Global Health Policy, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, JapanprofessorIntroduction The rising burden of drug resistance is a major challenge to the global fight against malaria. We estimated national Plasmodium falciparum resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) across Africa, from 2000 to 2020.Methods We assembled molecular, clinical and endemicity data covering malaria-endemic African countries up to December 2018. Subsequently, we reconstructed georeferenced patient data, using pfdhps540E and pfdhps581G to measure mid-level and high-level SP resistance. Gaussian process regression was applied to model spatiotemporal standardised prevalence.Results In eastern Africa, mid-level SP resistance increased by 64.0% (95% uncertainty interval, 30.7%–69.8%) in Tanzania, 55.4% (31.3%–65.2%) in Sudan, 45.7% (16.8%–54.3%) in Mozambique, 29.7% (10.0%–45.2%) in Kenya and 8.7% (1.4%–36.8%) in Malawi from 2000 to 2010. This was followed by a steady decline of 76.0% (39.6%–92.6%) in Sudan, 65.7% (25.5%–85.6%) in Kenya and 17.4% (2.6%–37.5%) in Tanzania from 2010 to 2020. In central Africa, the levels increased by 28.9% (7.2%–62.5%) in Equatorial Guinea and 85.3% (54.0%–95.9%) in the Congo from 2000 to 2020, while in the other countries remained largely unchanged. In western Africa, the levels have remained low from 2000 to 2020, except for Nigeria, with a reduction of 14.4% (0.7%–67.5%) and Mali, with an increase of 7.0% (0.8%–25.6%). High-level SP resistance increased by 5.5% (1.0%–20.0%) in Malawi, 4.7% (0.5%–25.4%) in Kenya and 2.0% (0.1%–39.2%) in Tanzania, from 2000 to 2020.Conclusion Under the WHO protocols, SP is no longer effective for intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy and infancy in most of eastern Africa and parts of central Africa. Strengthening health systems capacity to monitor drug resistance at subnational levels across the endemicity spectrum is critical to achieve the global target to end the epidemic.https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/11/e003217.full
spellingShingle Floriano Amimo
Anthony Magit
Jahit Sacarlal
Kenji Shibuya
Masahiro Hashizume
Plasmodium falciparum resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in Africa: a systematic analysis of national trends
BMJ Global Health
title Plasmodium falciparum resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in Africa: a systematic analysis of national trends
title_full Plasmodium falciparum resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in Africa: a systematic analysis of national trends
title_fullStr Plasmodium falciparum resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in Africa: a systematic analysis of national trends
title_full_unstemmed Plasmodium falciparum resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in Africa: a systematic analysis of national trends
title_short Plasmodium falciparum resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in Africa: a systematic analysis of national trends
title_sort plasmodium falciparum resistance to sulfadoxine pyrimethamine in africa a systematic analysis of national trends
url https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/11/e003217.full
work_keys_str_mv AT florianoamimo plasmodiumfalciparumresistancetosulfadoxinepyrimethamineinafricaasystematicanalysisofnationaltrends
AT anthonymagit plasmodiumfalciparumresistancetosulfadoxinepyrimethamineinafricaasystematicanalysisofnationaltrends
AT jahitsacarlal plasmodiumfalciparumresistancetosulfadoxinepyrimethamineinafricaasystematicanalysisofnationaltrends
AT kenjishibuya plasmodiumfalciparumresistancetosulfadoxinepyrimethamineinafricaasystematicanalysisofnationaltrends
AT masahirohashizume plasmodiumfalciparumresistancetosulfadoxinepyrimethamineinafricaasystematicanalysisofnationaltrends