Saturday 26 March 2011

Artemisinin combination therapy for vivax malaria

The Lancet Infectious Diseases : Volume 10, Issue 6, June 2010, Pages 405-416 PubMed ID: 20510281
Douglas, N.M.a b , Anstey, N.M.a b , Angus, B.J.b , Nosten, F.b d e , Price, R.N.a b c
Early parasitological diagnosis and treatment with artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) are key components of worldwide malaria elimination programmes. In general, use of ACTs has been limited to patients with falciparum malaria whereas blood-stage infections with Plasmodium vivax are mostly still treated with chloroquine. We review the evidence for the relative benefits and disadvantages of the existing separate treatment approach versus a unified ACT-based strategy for treating Plasmodium falciparum and P vivax infections in regions where both species are endemic (co-endemic). The separate treatment scenario is justifiable if P vivax remains sensitive to chloroquine and diagnostic tests reliably distinguish P vivax from P falciparum. However, with the high number of misdiagnoses in routine practice and the rise and spread of chloroquine-resistant P vivax, there might be a compelling rationale for a unified ACT-based strategy for vivax and falciparum malaria in all co-endemic regions. Analyses of the cost-effectiveness of ACTs for both Plasmodium species are needed to assess the role of these drugs in the control and elimination of vivax malaria.
http://www.scopus.com/record/display.url?eid=2-s2.0-77952605533&origin=inward&txGid=xIxHwce1_VFPqFnB8SYQw0y%3a2

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