Prophylaxis

There are five species of Plasmodium, of which:

Vector: female anopheles mosquito

For P. vivax and P. ovale infections, you need to first kill the parasite with chloroquine and then use primaquine to eliminate hypnozoites that would otherwise remain dormant in a patient's liver, thus reducing the rate of relapse. It is worth noting that primaquine can induce haemolysis in patients with G6PD deficiency and thus is not recommended in this group as well as infants <6 months, and women breastfeeding infants <6 months.

Infections with P. vivax and P. ovale often present >3 months after the initial infection compared to P. falciparum which normally presents within one month of infection.

mechanism of actions

artemether-lumefantrine → inhibits nucleic acid and protein synthesis

Quinine sulphate → to intercalate into DNA and disrupt the replication of the parasites