Compliance to recommendations for the management of curative treatment of Plasmodium vivax/ovale infections.

Objectives: We assessed the compliance to recommendations for the routine management of Plasmodium vivax/ovale malaria, and analyzed the impact of discrepancies on the quality of care.

Patients And Methods: We reviewed the cases of P. ovale and P. vivax malaria treated at the Besançon University Hospital, France (2008-2013).

Results: Chloroquine was prescribed in 44% of the 18 cases (4 due to P. ovale, 14 to P. vivax). Radical cure with primaquine was prescribed after the first bout of malaria for 6 patients. The primaquine dose prescribed was inferior to the recommended one for 4 patients. The mean delay between schizonticide treatment and primaquine cure was 43 days.

Conclusions: The delay before access to primaquine radical cure was the only parameter, likely to alter treatment effectiveness, but also difficult to shorten. Future national guidelines should take into account that not all patients have access to primaquine treatment immediately after schizonticide treatment.