Prevalence of Multiple Drug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum Malaria Cases in Northeast India

Two numbers of Plasmodium falciparum field isolates from Gossingpara, Runikhata area in Chirang district of Assam had shown multiple mutations in Pfcrt-dhfr-dhps gene (up to seven mutations: One mutation in Pfcrt gene, three mutations in Pfdhfr gene and three mutations in Pfdhps gene). Similarly, two cases in Bat camp, Miao area under Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh had shown a total of eight mutations, of which one mutation in Pfcrt gene, three mutations in Pfdhfr gene, three mutations in Pfdhps gene and one mutation in PfATPase6gene. One case in 3 Miles, Miao area of Changlang district has shown mutations in Pfcrt (one mutation), Pfdhfr (four mutations) and Pfdhps (three mutations) gene. These results indicated that there is an existence of multiple mutant P. falciparum malaria cases in northeastern region of India.