An optimised age-based dosing regimen for single low-dose primaquine for blocking malaria transmission in Cambodia.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In 2012, the World Health Organization recommended the addition of single low-dose primaquine (SLDPQ, 0.25 mg base/kg body weight) to artemisinin combination therapies to block the transmission of Plasmodium falciparum without testing for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. The targeted group was non-pregnant patients aged ≥ 1 year (later changed to ≥ 6 months) with acute uncomplicated falciparum malaria, primarily in countries with artemisinin-resistant P. falciparum (ARPf). No dosing regimen was suggested, leaving malaria control programmes and clinicians in limbo. Therefore, we designed a user-friendly, age-based SLDPQ regimen for Cambodia, the country most affected by ARPf.

Methods

By reviewing primaquine's pharmacology, we defined a therapeutic dose

SUBMITTER: Leang R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5081959 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature