AFRIMS - Kwai River Christian Hospital Clinical Center (AKCC), Sangkhla Buri, Kanchanaburi, Thailand.

Examination of a febrile patient at the AKCC.

          Located in the epicenter of drug resistant malaria, prevention and treatment of this disease have historically been prime objectives at AFRIMS. Malaria prevention and treatment have historically been prime objectives at AFRIMS. The development of an effective anti-malarial vaccine is a highly desirable goal, and AFRIMS has ongoing projects to evaluate several promising new vaccine candidates in both laboratory and field studies. AFRIMS recently completed testing of a blood-stage vaccine in 1350 volunteers at a remote field site near the Myanmar (Burmese) border. Other efforts have focused on field trials of new anti-malarial compounds, and evaluation and testing of new mosquito repellents, insecticides and barriers to reduce human/mosquito contact. A study to evaluate the antibiotic Azithromycin as a malaria prophylactic is currently underway in Kanchanaburi province. New treatment strategies to combat multiple drug-resistant strains of malaria include the testing of combinations of existing FDA-approved drugs, the testing of more active forms of known drugs and the development of members of a promising new class of drugs: the artemisinin derivatives.

The molecular structure of artemisinin (qinghaosu).