molecular markers of drug resistance in the context of two different Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) treatment regimens in the Koulikoro health district, Mali.

With growing concern of parasite resistance to Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) in West Africa, the effectiveness of Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DHA+PQ) was assessed as alternative drug regimen for Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC). This study aims to determine the prevalence of molecular markers of resistance to SP+AQ and DHA+PQ in Koulikoro (Mali), where SMC has been implemented since 2014.P. falciparum positive samples were analyzed by either next-generation sequencing, focusing on SNPs in genes known to be associated with resistance: Pfmdr1, PfK13, Pfcrt, Pfdhfr, Pfdhps, and Pfexo genes, and using qPCR for copy number variations (CNVs) of Pfmdr1 and Pfplasmepsin2.