Okell LC , Griffin JT , Roper C , 2017. Mapping sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria in infected humans and in parasite populations in Africa. Sci Rep 7: 1–15.
Amimo F , Lambert B , Magit A , Sacarlal J , Hashizume M , Shibuya K , 2020. Plasmodium falciparum resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in Africa: A systematic analysis of national trends. BMJ Glob Health 5: e003217.
Triglia T , Menting JG , Wilson C , Cowman AF , 1997. Mutations in dihydropteroate synthase are responsible for sulfone and sulfonamide resistance in Plasmodium falciparum. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 94: 13944–13949.
van Eijk AM , Larsen DA , Kayentao K , Koshy G , Slaughter DE , Roper C , Okell LC , Desai M , Gutman J , Khairallah C , 2019. Effect of Plasmodium falciparum sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine resistance on the effectiveness of intermittent preventive therapy for malaria in pregnancy in Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Infect Dis 19: 546–556.
Deutsch-Feldman M , Aydemir O , Carrel M , Brazeau NF , Bhatt S , Bailey JA , Kashamuka M , Tshefu AK , Taylor SM , Juliano JJ , 2019. The changing landscape of Plasmodium falciparum drug resistance in the Democratic Republic of Congo. BMC Infect Dis 19: 1–10.
Verity R , Aydemir O , Brazeau NF , Watson OJ , Hathaway NJ , Mwandagalirwa MK , Marsh PW , Thwai K , Fulton T , Denton M , 2020. The impact of antimalarial resistance on the genetic structure of Plasmodium falciparum in the DRC. Nat Commun 11: 2107.
Aydemir O , Janko M , Hathaway NJ , Verity R , Mwandagalirwa MK , Tshefu AK , Tessema SK , Marsh PW , Tran A , Reimonn T , 2018. Drug-resistance and population structure of Plasmodium falciparum across the Democratic Republic of Congo using high-throughput molecular inversion probes. J Infect Dis 218: 946–955.
Deutsch-Feldman M , Parr JB , Keeler C , Brazeau NF , Goel V , Emch M , Edwards JK , Kashamuka M , Tshefu AK , Meshnick SR , 2021. The burden of malaria in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. J Infect Dis 223: 1948–1952.
Mitchell CL , Janko MM , Mwandagalirwa MK , Tshefu AK , Edwards JK , Pence BW , Juliano JJ , Emch M , 2022. Impact of extractive industries on malaria prevalence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: A population-based cross-sectional study. Sci Rep 12: 1737.
Recht J , Siqueira AM , Monteiro WM , Herrera SM , Herrera S , Lacerda MV , 2017. Malaria in Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela: Current challenges in malaria control and elimination. Malar J 16: 1–18.
Shanks GD , Wongsrichanalai C , 2022. Mining-associated malaria epidemics. Am J Trop Med Hyg 106: 33.
De Salazar PM , Cox H , Imhoff H , Alexandre JS , Buckee CO , 2021. The association between gold mining and malaria in Guyana: A statistical inference and time-series analysis. Lancet Planet Health 5: e731–e738.
Castro MC , Peterka C , 2023. Malaria is increasing in Indigenous and artisanal mining areas in the Brazilian Amazon. Nat Med 29: 762–764.
Hasyim H , Dewi WC , Lestari RAF , Flora R , Novrikasari N , Liberty IA , Marini H , Elagali A , Herlinda S , Maharani FE , 2023. Risk factors of malaria transmission in mining workers in Muara Enim, South Sumatra, Indonesia. Sci Rep 13: 14755.
Gaillet M et al., 2023. Determination of different social groups’ level of knowledge about malaria in a multicultural Amazonian cross-border context. BMC Public Health 23: 1585.
Thimasarn K , Sirichaisinthop J , Vijaykadga S , Tansophalaks S , Yamokgul P , Laomiphol A , Palananth C , Thamewat U , Tháithong S , Rooney W , 1995. In vivo study of the response of Plasmodium falciparum to standard mefloquine/sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine (MSP) treatment among gem miners returning from Cambodia. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health 26: 204–212.
Chenet SM , Okoth SA , Kelley J , Lucchi N , Huber CS , Vreden S , Macedo de Oliveira A , Barnwell JW , Udhayakumar V , Adhin MR , 2017. Molecular profile of malaria drug resistance markers of Plasmodium falciparum in Suriname. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 61: e02655–e16.
Pacheco MA , Forero-Peña DA , Schneider KA , Chavero M , Gamardo A , Figuera L , Kadakia ER , Grillet ME , Oliveira-Ferreira J , Escalante AA , 2020. Malaria in Venezuela: Changes in the complexity of infection reflects the increment in transmission intensity. Malar J 19: 1–15.
Global Forest Watch , 2019. Democratic Republic of the Congo Mining Permits: Global Forest Watch Open Data Portal. Available at: https://data.globalforestwatch.org/datasets/3b4c0c91306c47abaec0c3fd46088242_5/explore?location=-22.090393%2C-0.825855%2C22.27. Accessed March 16, 2022.
Muller T , 2020. IPIS Open Data Dashboard on Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in Eastern DRC. Available at: https://ipisresearch.be/publication/ipis-open-data-dashboard-on-the-artisanal-and-small-scale-mining-sector-in-eastern-drc/. Accessed March 16, 2022.
Lindgren F , Rue H , 2015. Bayesian spatial modelling with R-INLA. J Stat Softw 63: 1–25.
Lordemus S , 2022. Does aid for malaria increase with exposure to malaria risk? Evidence from mining sites in the DR Congo. Oxf Bull Econ Stat 84: 719–748.
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Increasing sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) resistance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has threatened its use for prevention of malaria in one of the most malarious countries in the world. Using geographic information on mining operations in the DRC and genetic data on SP drug resistance markers from the 2013–2014 Demographic and Health Surveys, we evaluated associations between close residence to mining and the presence of mutations conferring resistance to sulfadoxine. Close residential proximity to mining was associated with increased prevalence odds ratio (POR) of the dhps540E mutation (POR: 2.11, 95% uncertainty interval: 1.15–3.96) with adjustments for confounding variables and space. Our findings indicate that exposure to mining is associated with increased presence of an antimalarial drug resistance haplotype that threatens effective use of SP for vulnerable populations. Areas actively engaged in mining could be considered for interventions to reduce the spread of emerging drug resistance in the DRC.
Financial support: This study was made possible by
Disclosure: Ethical approval was obtained from the University of North Carolina Institutional Review Board and the Kinshasa School of Public Health.
Authors’ contributions: C. L. Mitchell and J. J. Juliano wrote the original manuscript draft, and M. M. Janko and J. B. Parr contributed substantially to revisions. C. L. Mitchell, M. M. Janko, and J. J. Juliano conceptualized and designed the study. C. L. Mitchell analyzed the data and performed analytic experiments, M. M. Janko and J. J. Juliano provided analytical guidance, and R. Verity, M. M. Kashamuka, J. A. Bailey, A. K. Tshefu, and J. B. Parr facilitated access to the data and contributed analysis materials. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Data availability: Data from the 2013 DRC, DHS, and PCR results are publicly available through the DHS program (dhsprogram.com/data). Raw sequencing data from Verity et al. was previously deposited in the Sequence Read Archive (accession numbers: PRJNA454490, PRJNA545345, and PRJNA545347).
Current contact information: Cedar L. Mitchell, Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, E-mail: cedarmit@live.unc.edu. Mark M. Janko, Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, E-mail: mark.janko.collab@gmail.com. Robert Verity, Medical Research Council Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom, E-mail: r.verity@imperial.ac.uk. Melchior M. Kashamuka and Antoinette K. Tshefu, Kinshasa School of Public Health, Kinshasa University, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, E-mails: mkashamuka@yahoo.com and antotshe@yahoo.com. Jeffrey A. Bailey, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, E-mail: jeffrey_bailey@brown.edu. Jonathan B. Parr, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, E-mail: jonathan_parr@med.unc.edu. Jonathan J. Juliano, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, E-mail: jonathan_juliano@med.unc.edu.
Okell LC , Griffin JT , Roper C , 2017. Mapping sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria in infected humans and in parasite populations in Africa. Sci Rep 7: 1–15.
Amimo F , Lambert B , Magit A , Sacarlal J , Hashizume M , Shibuya K , 2020. Plasmodium falciparum resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in Africa: A systematic analysis of national trends. BMJ Glob Health 5: e003217.
Triglia T , Menting JG , Wilson C , Cowman AF , 1997. Mutations in dihydropteroate synthase are responsible for sulfone and sulfonamide resistance in Plasmodium falciparum. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 94: 13944–13949.
van Eijk AM , Larsen DA , Kayentao K , Koshy G , Slaughter DE , Roper C , Okell LC , Desai M , Gutman J , Khairallah C , 2019. Effect of Plasmodium falciparum sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine resistance on the effectiveness of intermittent preventive therapy for malaria in pregnancy in Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Infect Dis 19: 546–556.
Deutsch-Feldman M , Aydemir O , Carrel M , Brazeau NF , Bhatt S , Bailey JA , Kashamuka M , Tshefu AK , Taylor SM , Juliano JJ , 2019. The changing landscape of Plasmodium falciparum drug resistance in the Democratic Republic of Congo. BMC Infect Dis 19: 1–10.
Verity R , Aydemir O , Brazeau NF , Watson OJ , Hathaway NJ , Mwandagalirwa MK , Marsh PW , Thwai K , Fulton T , Denton M , 2020. The impact of antimalarial resistance on the genetic structure of Plasmodium falciparum in the DRC. Nat Commun 11: 2107.
Aydemir O , Janko M , Hathaway NJ , Verity R , Mwandagalirwa MK , Tshefu AK , Tessema SK , Marsh PW , Tran A , Reimonn T , 2018. Drug-resistance and population structure of Plasmodium falciparum across the Democratic Republic of Congo using high-throughput molecular inversion probes. J Infect Dis 218: 946–955.
Deutsch-Feldman M , Parr JB , Keeler C , Brazeau NF , Goel V , Emch M , Edwards JK , Kashamuka M , Tshefu AK , Meshnick SR , 2021. The burden of malaria in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. J Infect Dis 223: 1948–1952.
Mitchell CL , Janko MM , Mwandagalirwa MK , Tshefu AK , Edwards JK , Pence BW , Juliano JJ , Emch M , 2022. Impact of extractive industries on malaria prevalence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: A population-based cross-sectional study. Sci Rep 12: 1737.
Recht J , Siqueira AM , Monteiro WM , Herrera SM , Herrera S , Lacerda MV , 2017. Malaria in Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela: Current challenges in malaria control and elimination. Malar J 16: 1–18.
Shanks GD , Wongsrichanalai C , 2022. Mining-associated malaria epidemics. Am J Trop Med Hyg 106: 33.
De Salazar PM , Cox H , Imhoff H , Alexandre JS , Buckee CO , 2021. The association between gold mining and malaria in Guyana: A statistical inference and time-series analysis. Lancet Planet Health 5: e731–e738.
Castro MC , Peterka C , 2023. Malaria is increasing in Indigenous and artisanal mining areas in the Brazilian Amazon. Nat Med 29: 762–764.
Hasyim H , Dewi WC , Lestari RAF , Flora R , Novrikasari N , Liberty IA , Marini H , Elagali A , Herlinda S , Maharani FE , 2023. Risk factors of malaria transmission in mining workers in Muara Enim, South Sumatra, Indonesia. Sci Rep 13: 14755.
Gaillet M et al., 2023. Determination of different social groups’ level of knowledge about malaria in a multicultural Amazonian cross-border context. BMC Public Health 23: 1585.
Thimasarn K , Sirichaisinthop J , Vijaykadga S , Tansophalaks S , Yamokgul P , Laomiphol A , Palananth C , Thamewat U , Tháithong S , Rooney W , 1995. In vivo study of the response of Plasmodium falciparum to standard mefloquine/sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine (MSP) treatment among gem miners returning from Cambodia. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health 26: 204–212.
Chenet SM , Okoth SA , Kelley J , Lucchi N , Huber CS , Vreden S , Macedo de Oliveira A , Barnwell JW , Udhayakumar V , Adhin MR , 2017. Molecular profile of malaria drug resistance markers of Plasmodium falciparum in Suriname. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 61: e02655–e16.
Pacheco MA , Forero-Peña DA , Schneider KA , Chavero M , Gamardo A , Figuera L , Kadakia ER , Grillet ME , Oliveira-Ferreira J , Escalante AA , 2020. Malaria in Venezuela: Changes in the complexity of infection reflects the increment in transmission intensity. Malar J 19: 1–15.
Global Forest Watch , 2019. Democratic Republic of the Congo Mining Permits: Global Forest Watch Open Data Portal. Available at: https://data.globalforestwatch.org/datasets/3b4c0c91306c47abaec0c3fd46088242_5/explore?location=-22.090393%2C-0.825855%2C22.27. Accessed March 16, 2022.
Muller T , 2020. IPIS Open Data Dashboard on Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in Eastern DRC. Available at: https://ipisresearch.be/publication/ipis-open-data-dashboard-on-the-artisanal-and-small-scale-mining-sector-in-eastern-drc/. Accessed March 16, 2022.
Lindgren F , Rue H , 2015. Bayesian spatial modelling with R-INLA. J Stat Softw 63: 1–25.
Lordemus S , 2022. Does aid for malaria increase with exposure to malaria risk? Evidence from mining sites in the DR Congo. Oxf Bull Econ Stat 84: 719–748.
Past two years | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 1478 | 1478 | 211 |
Full Text Views | 43 | 43 | 0 |
PDF Downloads | 47 | 47 | 0 |