Abstract
Primaquine was officially licensed as an anti-malarial drug by the FDA in 1952. It has remained the only FDA licensed drug capable of clearing the intra-hepatic schizonts and hypnozoites of Plasmodium vivax. This update and review focuses on five major aspects of primaquine use in treatment of vivax malaria, namely: a) evidence of efficacy of primaquine for its current indications; b) potential hazards of its widespread use, c) critical analysis of reported resistance against primaquine containing regimens; d) evidence for combining primaquine with artemisinins in areas of chloroquine resistance; and e) the potential for replacement of primaquine with newer drugs.
MeSH terms
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Aminoquinolines / administration & dosage
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Aminoquinolines / therapeutic use
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Antimalarials / administration & dosage
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Antimalarials / therapeutic use*
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Artemisinins / administration & dosage
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Artemisinins / therapeutic use
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Chloroquine / administration & dosage
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Chloroquine / therapeutic use
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Clinical Trials as Topic
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Drug Resistance
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Glycogen Storage Disease Type I / pathology
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Hemolysis
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Humans
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Malaria, Vivax / drug therapy*
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Malaria, Vivax / parasitology
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Malaria, Vivax / prevention & control*
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Plasmodium vivax / pathogenicity*
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Primaquine / administration & dosage
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Primaquine / adverse effects
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Primaquine / therapeutic use*
Substances
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Aminoquinolines
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Antimalarials
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Artemisinins
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tafenoquine
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Chloroquine
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Primaquine