Weekly primaquine for radical cure of patients with Plasmodium vivax malaria and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency.

Background: The World Health Organization recommends that primaquine should be given once weekly for 8-weeks to patients with Plasmodium vivax malaria and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, but data on its antirelapse efficacy and safety are limited.

Methods: Within the context of a multicentre, randomised clinical trial of two primaquine regimens in P. vivax malaria, patients with G6PD deficiency were excluded and enrolled into a separate 12-month observational study.

The heterogeneity of symptom reporting across study sites: a secondary analysis of a randomised placebo-controlled multicentre antimalarial trial.

Introduction: Symptoms reported following the administration of investigational drugs play an important role in decisions for registration and treatment guidelines. However, symptoms are subjective, and interview methods to quantify them are difficult to standardise. We explored differences in symptom reporting across study sites of a multicentre antimalarial trial, with the aim of informing trial design and the interpretation of safety and tolerability data.

Short-course primaquine for the radical cure of Plasmodium vivax malaria: a multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled non-inferiority trial.

Background: Primaquine is the only widely used drug that prevents Plasmodium vivax malaria relapses, but adherence to the standard 14-day regimen is poor. We aimed to assess the efficacy of a shorter course (7 days) of primaquine for radical cure of vivax malaria.

Methods: We did a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, non-inferiority trial in eight health-care clinics (two each in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Vietnam).

Field trial of three different Plasmodium vivax-detecting rapid diagnostic tests with and without evaporative cool box storage in Afghanistan.

Background: Accurate parasitological diagnosis of malaria is essential for targeting treatment where more than one species coexist. In this study, three rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) (AccessBio CareStart (CSPfPan), CareStart PfPv (CSPfPv) and Standard Diagnostics Bioline (SDBPfPv)) were evaluated for their ability to detect natural Plasmodium vivax infections in a basic clinic setting. The potential for locally made evaporative cooling boxes (ECB) to protect the tests from heat damage in high summer temperatures was also investigated.