A new study from Strathmore University reveals that resistance to antimalarial drugs is rapidly escalating in western Kenya, posing a significant threat to malaria treatment effectiveness.

• Genetic markers for resistance to older antimalarials have reached near-total prevalence, with some at 100 per cent.
• The study, conducted between September 2020 and January 2024 by led researchers Dr Andrew Omandi Cole and Prof Gilbert Kokwaro of Strathmore University, tracked changes in the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.
• Early signs of mutations reducing sensitivity to artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), the current frontline treatment, have been detected, mirroring past crises in Southeast Asia.