Dihidroartemisinin-piperakuin adalah pengobatan lini pertama malaria tanpa gejala yang sudah disarankan oleh Kementerian Kesehatan Republik Indonesia sejak 2016. Resistansi Plasmodium falciparum sebagai salah satu parasit malaria terhadap piperakuin sudah mulai terdeteksi di Asia Tenggara dengan salah satu marka genetiknya berupa penambahan jumlah salinan gen plasmepsin 2 (PfPM2). Penelitian ini bertujuan mengevaluasi penambahan jumlah salinan PfPM2 pada P. falciparum di Papua dan hubungannya dengan resistansi piperakuin. Sebanyak 20 isolat P. falciparum dari darah pasien malaria tanpa gejala di Papua dipakai dalam penelitian ini. PfPM2 diamplifikasi menggunakan ddPCR lalu dihitung jumlah salinannya dengan bantuan perangkat lunak QuantaSoft. Tiga isolat ditemukan mengalami penambahan jumlah salinan PfPM2, namun pasien-pasien terkait tidak mengalami kegagalan pengobatan. Selain itu, hubungan antara jumlah salinan PfPM2 dengan jumlah parasit awal dalam darah tidak ditemukan.

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Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine is the front-line uncomplicated malaria treatment recommended by Indonesia’s Ministry of Health since 2016. Plasmodium falciparum’s resistance towards piperaquine had been detected in Southeast Asian countries where malaria is prevalent, with PfPM2 amplification as a genetic marker. This study aims to evaluate PfPM2 amplification in P. falciparum isolates from Papua and their effect towards piperaquine resistance. Twenty isolates obtained from Papuan uncomplicated malaria patients were used in this study. PfPM2 was amplified using the ddPCR technique, and the copy numbers were calculated with the help of the built-in software QuantaSoft. Three isolates were found to undergo PfPM2 amplification, but the corresponding patients did not experience treatment failure in any form. Besides, the correlation between PfPM2 copy number and initial parasite density before treatment could not be identified.