Naddiya Sukma Nur Rachma (6411421029)
(Scientists Find Evidence of Drug-Resistant Form of Malaria)
Researchers in Uganda have discovered evidence of a drug-resistant form of malaria. Health officials fear the finding could make the top drug used against the disease useless if the resistant form keeps spreading. Scientists in Uganda examined blood samples from patients treated with artemesinin, the main medicine used for malaria in Africa in combination with other drugs. The scientists examined two hundred fourty blood samples over a three-year period. They found evidence that the drug-resistant forms first appeared in Uganda rather than being imported from elsewhere. Malaria is spread by mosquito bites and kills more than four hundred thousand people every year. Most of the victims are children under age five and pregnant women. Dr. Nicholas White is a professor of medicine at Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand. He wrote a commentary on the results that appeared with the study. He described the findings about a drug resistant malaria as unequivocal. Based on the results, White suggested a change in the treatment method for malaria.
(Drug Company Reports Success in Testing COVID-19 Pill)
American drug-maker Merck said Friday that its experimental pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half among people infected with COVID-19 in a drug trial. The drug-maker said it will soon ask health officials in the United States and around the world to approve the pill for the treatment of coronavirus. If cleared, the drug, called molnupiravir, would be the first pill approved for the treatment of COVID-19. The patients also had existing health problems that increased their risk for severe disease. Patients who received the experimental pill within five days of COVID-19 symptoms had about half the rate of hospitalization and death as those who received a placebo. A placebo is a pill that has an inactive substance. Merck said it will soon send the trial results to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for review. Dr. Dean Li is the vice president of Merck Research Laboratories.
