title: Chemoprophylaxis in malaria: drugs, evidence of efficacy and costs.
abstract: This review concentrates on different aspects of malaria chemoprophylaxis, namely drug combinations, resistance, impact of malaria prevention in pregnancy and cost effectiveness. A MEDLINE search was performed for all articles with the key word 'Malaria' in the title field and 'Prophylaxis' in any field. The search was restricted to articles published in English within the last decade (1999-2009). Data sources included review articles published in core clinical journals, cohort studies, interventional studies, case control studies and cross sectional analyses. The mechanism of action, trial evidence of efficacy, side effects and geographical distribution of resistance is discussed for each prophylactic drug regimen. Impact of prophylaxis in pregnancy and the cost considerations are discussed under two separate sub topics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: Sumadhya Deepika
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Fernando
authors.forename: Chaturaka
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rodrigo
authors.forename: Senaka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rajapakse
mesh_terms: D000962:Antimalarials / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics*; D018890:Chemoprevention / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods*; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D004351:Drug Resistance; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000962:Antimalarials