ABSTRACT
Malaria is responsible for the deaths of 1-2 million people each year, most of them children. Four species of malaria parasite may infect man, (Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae, and P. ovale) but almost all of the deaths are caused by P. falciparum as a result of cerebral malaria. Fever, characteristic of infection with all four species of malaria parasite is mediated by cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor (TNF). Specific pathological features of falciparum malaria relate to the accumulation of erythrocytes infected with the later developmental stages of the blood cycle in the capillaries of vital organs such as the brain, kidney, intestine, lungs etc. The widespread development of P. falciparum resistant to chloroquine and the emergence of strains resistant to other antimalarials as well (multi-drug resistance), especially in south-east Asia has made the need for new antimalarials very urgent (Bradley, 1995).
