Recent advances in the treatment of Malaria

Malaria is an infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites belonging to the Plasmodium species. The disease has been a major cause of mortality and morbidity, especially in populations of African and SouthEast Asian countries. A well-developed treatment regimen including the artemisinins as a potent antimalarial and other safety preventive measures have played a major role in reducing global burden of malaria over the years. However, recent reports of drug resistance against the artemisinins should be a wakeup call, for the artemisinins have been the mainstay towards the treatment of the disease in recent past. There is a need for newer antimalarials that can be active on more than one stage of the parasite life cycle. These may be complementary to the artemisinins and may also help in keeping a check on the menace of drug resistance. The current review focuses on clinical drug candidates with activity against more than one stages of the malarial parasite life cycle.