A randomised trial of an eight-week, once weekly primaquine regimen to prevent relapse of plasmodium vivax in Northwest Frontier Province, Pakistan.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Vivax malaria remains a major cause of morbidity in the subtropics. To undermine the stability of the disease, drugs are required that prevent relapse and provide reservoir reduction. A 14-day course of primaquine (PQ) is effective but cannot safely be used in routine practice because of its interaction with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency for which testing is seldom available. Safe and effective use of PQ without the need for G6PD testing would be ideal. The efficacy and safety of an 8-week, once weekly PQ regimen was compared with current standard treatment (chloroquine alone) and a 14-day PQ regimen.

Methods and principal findings

200 microscopically confirmed Plasmodium vivax patients were randomly assigned to either once weekly 8-week PQ (

SUBMITTER: Leslie T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2481394 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature