title: Management of relapsing Plasmodium vivax malaria.
abstract: Relapses are important contributors to illness and morbidity in Plasmodium vivax and P. ovale infections. Relapse prevention (radical cure) with primaquine is required for optimal management, control and ultimately elimination of Plasmodium vivax malaria. A review was conducted with publications in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish using the search terms 'P. vivax' and 'relapse'.
  
  
  
  Hypnozoites causing relapses may be activated weeks or months after initial infection. Incidence and temporal patterns of relapse varies geographically. Relapses derive from parasites either genetically similar or different from the primary infection indicating that some derive from previous infections. Malaria illness itself may activate relapse. Primaquine is the only widely available treatment for radical cure. However, it is often not given because of uncertainty over the risks of primaquine induced haemolysis when G6PD deficiency testing is unavailable. Recommended dosing of primaquine for radical cure in East Asia and Oceania is 0.5 mg base/kg/day and elsewhere is 0.25 mg base/kg/day. Alternative treatments are under investigation. Expert commentary: Geographic heterogeneity in relapse patterns and chloroquine susceptibility of P. vivax, and G6PD deficiency epidemiology mean that radical treatment should be given much more than it is today. G6PD testing should be made widely available so primaquine can be given more safely.
authors.affiliation: a Shoklo Malaria Research Unit, Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine , Mahidol University , Mae Sot , Thailand.|b Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine , Mahidol University , Bangkok , Thailand.
authors.forename: Cindy S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: b Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine , Mahidol University , Bangkok , Thailand.|c Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine , University of Oxford , Oxford , UK.
authors.forename: Nicholas J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D000962:Antimalarials / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004347:Drug Interactions; D004351:Drug Resistance; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000469:parasitology; D016780:Malaria, Vivax / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000517:prevention & control; D010966:Plasmodium vivax / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011319:Primaquine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012008:Recurrence
chemical_list: D000962:Antimalarials; D011319:Primaquine
keywords: 8-aminoquinoline; Plasmodium vivax; Plasmodium vivax relapse; Plasmodium vivax treatment; anti-malarial efficacy; chloroquine; glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency; primaquine; radical cure; review