title: Primaquine administration after falciparum malaria treatment in malaria hypoendemic areas with high incidence of falciparum and vivax mixed infection: pros and cons.
abstract: Mixed infections of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax is high (approximately 30%) in some malaria hypoendemic areas where the patients present with P. falciparum malaria diagnosed by microscopy. Conventional treatment of P. falciparum with concurrent chloroquine and 14 days of primaquine for all falciparum malaria patients may be useful in areas where mixed falciparum and vivax infections are high and common and also with mild or moderate G6PD deficiency in the population even with or without subpatent vivax mixed infection. It will be possibly cost-effective to reduce subsequent vivax illness if the patients have mixed vivax infection. Further study to prove this hypothesis may be warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. tmpwl@mahidol.ac.th
authors.forename: Polrat
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wilairatana
authors.forename: Noppadon
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tangpukdee
authors.forename: Shigeyuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kano
authors.forename: Srivicha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krudsood
mesh_terms: D000962:Antimalarials / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000191:economics; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016780:Malaria, Vivax / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011319:Primaquine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000191:economics
chemical_list: D000962:Antimalarials; D011319:Primaquine