Authors: Phan, Giao T.; de Vries, Peter J.¹; Tran, Binh Q.²; Le, Hung Q.; Nguyen, Nam V.³; Nguyen, Thang V.⁴; Heisterkamp, Siem H.⁵; Kager, Piet A.¹

Source: Tropical Medicine & International Health, Volume 7, Number 10, October 2002 , pp. 858-864(7)

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Abstract:

Summary

Chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium vivax has not yet occurred in Vietnam. The efficacy of artemisinin for P. vivax was not established. We conducted a double-blind randomized study involving 240 inpatients with P. vivax malaria who received artemisinin (40 mg/kg over 3 days) plus placebo chloroquine (Art) or chloroquine (25 mg/kg over 3 days) plus placebo artemisinin (Chl). Patients were followed up with weekly blood smears for 28 days. In each group 113 cases were analysed. All patients recovered rapidly. The median (range) parasite clearance time of regimen Art was 24 h (8-72) and of Chl 24 h (8-64; P = 0.3). Parasites reappeared in two cases in each group on day 14, in eight cases in each group (7%) on day 16 and in 25 (23%) and 18 (16%) cases, respectively, at the end of 4-week follow-up (P = 0.3). The population parasite clearance curve followed a mono-exponential decline. The parasite reduction ratio per 48 h reproduction cycle was 2.3 × 10⁴ for both regimens. We conclude that artemisinin and chloroquine are equally effective in the treatment of P. vivax infections in Vietnam. Reappearance of parasites before day 16 (7%) suggests the emergence of chloroquine resistance. Three days of artemisinin monotherapy does not prevent recrudescence.

Keywords: Plasmodium vivax; artemisinin; chloroquine; Vietnam; drug-resistance; recrudescence

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3156.2002.00948.x

Affiliations: 1: Division of Infectious Diseases, Tropical Medicine and AIDS, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 2: Tropical Diseases Clinical Research Center, Cho Ray Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. 3: Binh Thuan Provincial Malaria Station, Phan Thiet, Vietnam. 4: Mepu Health Post, Duc Linh District, Vietnam. 5: Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Publication date: 2002-10-01

Related content

• In this: publication
• By this: publisher
• In this Subject: Internal Medicine
• By this author: Phan, Giao T. ;  de Vries, Peter J. ;  Tran, Binh Q. ;  Le, Hung Q. ;  Nguyen, Nam V. ;  Nguyen, Thang V. ;  Heisterkamp, Siem H. ;  Kager, Piet A.

Website © Publishing Technology. Article copyright remains with the publisher, society or author(s) as specified within the article.

• Terms and conditions
• Privacy policy
• Information for advertisers