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A significant worldwide research led by Liverpool College of Tropical Medication (LSTM) has confirmed that the drug used to forestall malaria in being pregnant continues to guard infants’ well being, regardless of malaria parasites creating excessive ranges of drug resistance.
The research, printed in The Lancet Infectious Illnesses, analyzed knowledge from 122 research involving practically 150,000 pregnant girls throughout sub-Saharan Africa on the consequences of utilizing sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) for the prevention of malaria in being pregnant.
In 2023, an estimated 12.4 million pregnant girls in Africa have been contaminated with malaria. The illness will increase the chance of miscarriage, extreme maternal anemia, and infants being born too small or too early. SP has lengthy been a key drug for safeguarding pregnant girls from the consequences of malaria an infection. Nevertheless, the unfold of resistant malaria strains has raised issues about its ongoing worth.
Researchers discovered that whereas SP turns into much less efficient at stopping malaria infections as resistance will increase, it nonetheless has different helpful results for creating pregnancies. Throughout all resistance ranges, SP decreased the chance of low beginning weight by about 25% to 45%, with no proof that larger resistance weakened these results. These advantages seem to work by way of mechanisms separate from stopping malaria and could also be a results of SP being a broad-spectrum antibiotic.
Dr. Anna Maria van Eijk, who led the research from LSTM’s Division of Scientific Sciences, mentioned, “Even in areas where this drug’s ability to prevent malaria is compromised, it still protects babies from being born too small through beneficial effects that are not related to malaria. That’s an incredibly important result for maternal and child health.”
These findings present important steering for well being care suppliers and policymakers. Crucially, this new evaluation confirms that SP ought to proceed for use in antenatal care packages due to its advantages for beginning outcomes. The analysis additionally discovered no proof of hurt from continued SP use in being pregnant.
Professor Feiko Ter Kuile, joint senior creator and Professor of Tropical Medication at LSTM, mentioned, “These findings provide crucial guidance for malaria control programs. While we must continue our search for more effective alternatives, this research shows that current prevention strategies continue to provide important benefits for maternal and child health.”
SP stays the one drug really useful by the World Well being Group (WHO) for malaria prevention throughout being pregnant in Africa. Whereas the findings are reassuring, the researchers stress that there’s nonetheless an pressing have to develop new medication, vaccines, or different methods to guard pregnant girls from malaria and enhance outcomes for moms and infants. Additionally they highlighted the pressing want to raised perceive the malaria-independent results of SP.
Extra data:
Anna Maria van Eijk et al, The affect of sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine resistance on the effectiveness of intermittent preventive therapy for the prevention of malaria in being pregnant in Africa: an up to date systematic overview and meta-analysis, The Lancet Infectious Illnesses (2025). DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(25)00219-1
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Malaria prevention drug nonetheless protects infants, even when malaria parasites are drug-resistant (2025, July 17)
retrieved 17 July 2025
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