SYDNEY, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Increasing dose of the antimalarial drug primaquine in malaria patients can help combat malaria relapses while the side effects are limited, said Australian researchers.
One study, led by Rob Commons, a senior research fellow of Australia's Menzies School of Health Research and Megha Rajasekhar, a biostatistician of the University of Melbourne, found that increasing the dose of primaquine from 3.5mg/kg to 7mg/kg halved recurrence of Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) malaria, with limited impact on gastrointestinal symptoms, a Menzies media release said on Monday.
Meanwhile, a peer study examining the safety of the dosing showed that the doubled dosing had similar risks found between different primaquine dose regimens.
Both studies, published recently in the Lancet Infectious Diseases, were conducted by analyzing data from more than 6,800 patients in 16 countries.
Primaquine is a medication used for more than 60 years to target malaria parasites in the liver and prevent infection from continuing.
"Most countries currently use a lower dose. Our results show the impact that increasing the dose could have on preventing people from getting recurrent malaria," said Commons.
P. vivax malaria affects more than 7 million people each year, mainly throughout the Americas, Africa and the Asia-Pacific. It puts 40 percent of the world's population at risk of infection. Once infected, P. vivax can hide in the liver for long periods of time before reappearing and causing a malaria relapse. ■
