Abstract
To assess sulfadoxine and pyrimethamine resistance (SPR), we describe here the dihydropteroate synthetase (DHPS) mutations among the
Plasmodium falciparum
isolates in which dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) mutations had recently been described by us (A. Ahmed, M. K. Das, V. Dev, M. A. Saifi, Wajihullah, and Y. D. Sharma, Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 50:1546-1549, 2006). A majority of isolates from Car Nicobar island showed double DHPS mutations, whereas a majority of isolates from Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) and Assam contained the wild-type DHPS. Based on DHFR-DHPS mutations, the expected level of SPR was lowest in U.P., higher in Assam, and highest in Car Nicobar, suggesting that a region-wise drug policy is needed in India.