Response to chloroquine treatment in children with or without gametocytes during uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria.

摘要

Chemotherapy still remains the most widely used approach to combat malaria infection. However, chloroquine has increasingly been failing to clear parasites in patients in endemic areas, and failure rates as high as 40 and 80% have been reported for West African and East African patients, respectively [1, 2]. This development has necessitated the development of an alternative antimalarial drug therapy. While awaiting the emergence of an alternative to chloroquine, however, efforts need to be geared towards minimizing the morbidity and mortality that may result from the continued use of chloroquine in endemic areas. One strategy that may prove useful for extending the period during which this antimalarial agent remains effective is to consider parasite host-related characteristics, such as ga-metocyte carriage, and the clinical response of patients to chloroquine. Gametocyte generation, host carriage, and infectivity of mosquitoes are crucial for the successful transmission of malaria infection and may contribute to the sustenance and spread of chloroquine resistance in endemic areas [1, 3]. Thus, the present study was conducted to evaluate the role played by gametocytes at the time of treatment with chloroquine and during the follow-up period on clinical outcome and resistance patterns in children with acute uncomplicated falciparum malaria.