[Therapeutic progress in the control of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria]

Malaria is a worldwide public health problem. In Europe, data show an increasing trend of imported cases in the last ten years. Following an alarming observation reporting resistance to anti-malarial drugs, new effective treatments have been developed in early 21st century. These are artemisinin and its derivatives. Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACT) are now recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) since 2006 as the first-line treatment for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria. However, resistance phenomena to these new drugs have been described in South-East Asia since 2009. It is thus necessary to use them properly and to monitor their use to preserve their effectiveness in the future.