Image credit: Pearl Gan
Vivax malaria affects more than 13 million people each year, with an estimated 40% of the world’s population at risk of contracting the infection across all continents from South America to South-East Asia. In some regions P. vivax has become resistant to standard treatment with chloroquine. The problem is compounded by vivax’s ability to lie dormant in the liver for long periods of time before causing recurrent infections that have an enduring impact on people’s lives and livelihoods.