Ex vivo susceptibility and genotyping of Plasmodium falciparum isolates from Pikine, Senegal

Background The monitoring of Plasmodium falciparum sensitivity to anti-malarial drugs is a necessity for effective case management of malaria. This species is characterized by a strong resistance to anti-malarial drugs. In Senegal, the first cases of chloroquine resistance were reported in the Dakar region in 1988 with nearly 7% population prevalence, reaching 47% by 1990. It is in this context that sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine temporarily replaced chloroquine as first line treatment in 2003, pending the introduction of artemisinin-based combination therapy in 2006. The purpose of this study is to assess the ex vivo sensitivity to different anti-malarial drugs of the P. falciparum population from Pikine.