Prevalence of Plasmodium Falciparum Chloroquine-Resistant Transporter

Over a decade ago, Malaria patients did not respond well to chloroquine treatment. This was as a result of the resistance developed by Plasmodium falciparum to chloroquine. Chloroquine was then substituted with artemisinin-based combination therapies in Ghana. Chloroquine which has been banned was then being used by others and sold at some drug shops. Continuous usage of chloroquine was therefore conferring and increasing the resistance rate of the parasite to the drug. Meanwhile, Plasmodium falciparum resistance to chloroquine treatment has been a global threat. And this resistance is conferred by the presence of a mutant allele known as the pfcrt 76T. This book therefore provides an assessment of the proportion of the mutant allele in the Cape Coast Metropolis. DNA of the P. falciparum in the collected blood samples of malaria patients was extracted and examined. 65 out of 110 blood samples successfully examined had the mutant allele representing 59.09%. This assessment of the high prevalence of the mutant allele would be useful to clinical professionals and epidemiologists to help curb the adverse effects caused by the continuous use of chloroquine.