title: The sensitivity of artesunate against Schistosoma japonicum decreased after 10 years of use in China?
abstract: Artesuante (AS) is a good chemoprophylactic drug for preventing against schistosome infection, but Hua et al. recently reported that the sensitivity of AS against Schistosoma japonicum decreased after 10 years of use in China. There are at least three problems, to our knowledge, making the finding suspicious or inconclusive in that report. In consideration of it as the first report about the emergence of potential artemisinin derivative-resistant S. japonicum to date and the possible severe influences of the emergence of AS-resistant S. japonicum on the future choice of chemoprophylactic drugs for preventing against S. japonicum infections in China, we write this comment and call for some more rigorous and convincing trials to confirm this finding further.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Parasitology, School of Basic Medical Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China. liurong19840901@whu.edu.cn
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Hui-Fen
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Ming-Sen
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000871:Anthelmintics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D037621:Artemisinins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000077332:Artesunate; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004351:Drug Resistance; D021261:Parasitic Sensitivity Tests; D011223:Praziquantel; D012549:Schistosoma japonicum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D012554:Schistosomiasis japonica / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D000871:Anthelmintics; D037621:Artemisinins; D000077332:Artesunate; D011223:Praziquantel