Formulation of malaria treatment policy for children in Côte d'Ivoire as chloroquine resistant Plasmodium falciparum spreads into west Africa.
To develop a malaria treatment policy for children with Plasmodium falciparum, an in vivo and in vitro chloroquine (CQ) sensitivity study was conducted in Côte d'Ivoire in September 1986. The efficacy of a single dose of CQ (10 mg base kg-1, C10) was tested with assessment of subjects on Days 2 and 7 after treatment; 108 (99%) of 109 children were aparasitaemic on Day 7. Of 33 isolates of P. falciparum tested in vitro, two (6%) were resistant to CQ. Although C10 appeared effective clinically and parasitologically in Côte d'Ivoire, a treatment dose of 25 mg of CQ base kg-1 (C25), over three days, was recommended as first-line therapy for malaria. This was because in vivo CQ-resistance will soon spread into other West African countries including Côte d'Ivoire, the C25 dose still retains clinical effectiveness in most partially-immune persons living in areas with low-level chloroquine resistance, and alternate drugs are more expensive.
Soro
B
B
Institut National de la Santé Publique, Combatting Childhood Communicable Diseases Project, Côte d'Ivoire.
Davis
C E
CE
Peyron
F M
FM
Yao
F
F
Saki
Z M
ZM
Nguyen-Dinh
P
P
Breman
J G
JG
D000818:Animals; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002738:Chloroquine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007560:Cote d'Ivoire; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004351:Drug Resistance; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum
D002738:Chloroquine