Adequate primaquine for vivax malaria.
BACKGROUND
Treatment of vivax malaria with primaquine prevents the relapse of infection from residual liver stages of the parasite. Inadequate dosage is related to a higher relapse risk.


METHODS
A comparison was made of vivax malaria relapse-prevention treatments with primaquine 22.5 mg or 30 mg daily for 14 days on 146 reports to the Australian Army Central Malaria Register.


RESULTS
The lower dose of primaquine was found to carry a relative risk of 6.63 for a relapse of vivax malaria compared with the higher dose.


CONCLUSIONS
The available data presented here suggest that vivax malaria in this region is increasingly tolerant of the 22.5 mg daily treatment regimen of primaquine and that the greater dose of at least 30 mg daily is more effective.
Centre for Military and Veterans' Health, Herston, Australia.
Scott
S
Kitchener
Peter
P
Nasveld
Sonya
S
Bennett
Joseph
J
Torresi
D000962:Antimalarials / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D006801:Humans; D016780:Malaria, Vivax / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011319:Primaquine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000962:Antimalarials; D011319:Primaquine