Investigating antimalarial drug resistance in response to community interventions in Ghana, West Africa
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Professor Karen Day+61 3 8344 7644
Project Details
Plasmodium falciparum resistance to antimalarials including chloroquine, sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine, and artemisinin-based combination therapies threatens malaria control efforts, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where >90% of malaria-related deaths occur annually. Currently, we are monitoring the efficacy of a community-based intervention known as seasonal malaria chemoprevention, a form of targeted mass drug administration in children under 5-years, in Bongo District in the Upper East Region of Ghana in West Africa. Changes in patterns of molecular markers of antimalarial drug resistance are being monitored and analysed by genetic epidemiology methods to inform the National Malaria Control Program in Ghana, as well as to better understand the population genetics of drug resistance in the reservoir of chronic infections. This project has been undertaken through a long-standing collaboration with Prof. Koram and Dr. Ghansah (Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Accra, Ghana), and Dr. Oduro (Navrongo Health Research Centre, Navrongo, Ghana).
Research Group
Day Laboratory: Malaria genomics, epidemiology and control
Faculty Research Themes
School Research Themes
Key Contact
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Department / Centre
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