From Conventional Treatment to Targeted Antimalarial Therapy: Building Up on Innovations

: Despite many technological advancements and innovations, infectious disease like malaria continues to be one of the greatest health challenges worldwide. The conventional drug therapy has various limitations. There are various challenges faced by drug therapy and the eradication agenda. However, various new strategies are being investigated not only to treat the parasitic disease but to prevent its spread and relapse. Nanotechnology-based approaches (diagnosis treatment and prevention), reconsidering drugs with limitations, repurposing of drugs, and development of new drugs by modifying existing compounds, re-optimizing available antimalarial, creating new combinations, etc. are some of them. The use of herbal drugs for antimalarial therapy has provided a novel approach having lesser side effects, safety, and more efficacies. Recent developments like investigating new targets for antimalarial drugs, newer and more effective mechanisms for attacking the parasite, targeting organ system and multiple stages of the parasitic life cycle and many other newer approaches may revolutionize the way we are fighting the malaria parasite soon. © 2020 iGlobal Research and Publishing Foundation. All rights reserved.