Antimalarial treatments more likely to fail in children with acute malnutrition

47 million children across the world are estimated to suffer from acute malnutrition, with a 30% increase in the last three years (an additional 13.6 million children). Areas with malnutrition overlap with those affected by malaria across many tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world, and children under five account for 80% of all malaria deaths. The study’s conclusions also urge scientists and doctors to record young children’s height and weight in future malaria studies, to identify children who need more careful medical follow-up because malaria treatment is more likely to fail. Future work is also now needed to optimise the dose of current anti-malarial drugs for this group of children. The paper 'Does acute malnutrition in young children increase the risk of treatment failure following artemisinin-based combination therapy?