A report on Malaria and Primaquine

Malaria parasite connecting to a red blood cell

The life cycle of malaria parasites. Sporozoites are introduced by a mosquito bite. They migrate to the liver, where they multiply into thousands of merozoites. The merozoites infect red blood cells and replicate, infecting more and more red blood cells. Some parasites form gametocytes, which are taken up by a mosquito, continuing the life cycle.

Micrograph of a placenta from a stillbirth due to maternal malaria. H&E stain. Red blood cells are anuclear; blue/black staining in bright red structures (red blood cells) indicate foreign nuclei from the parasites.

Electron micrograph of a Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cell (center), illustrating adhesion protein "knobs"

The blood film is the gold standard for malaria diagnosis.

Ring-forms and gametocytes of Plasmodium falciparum in human blood

An Anopheles stephensi mosquito shortly after obtaining blood from a human (the droplet of blood is expelled as a surplus). This mosquito is a vector of malaria, and mosquito control is an effective way of reducing its incidence.

Man spraying kerosene oil in standing water, Panama Canal Zone, 1912

Walls where indoor residual spraying of DDT has been applied. The mosquitoes remain on the wall until they fall down dead on the floor.

An advertisement for quinine as a malaria treatment from 1927.

Deaths due to malaria per million persons in 2012

Past and current malaria prevalence in 2009

Ancient malaria oocysts preserved in Dominican amber

British doctor Ronald Ross received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on malaria.

Chinese medical researcher Tu Youyou received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2015 for her work on the antimalarial drug artemisinin.

Artemisia annua, source of the antimalarial drug artemisinin

U.S. Marines with malaria in a field hospital on Guadalcanal, October 1942

Members of the Malaria Commission of the League of Nations collecting larvae on the Danube delta, 1929

1962 Pakistani postage stamp promoting malaria eradication program

Disability-adjusted life year for malaria per 100,000 inhabitants in 2004
no data
<10
0–100
100–500
500–1000
1000–1500
1500–2000
2000–2500
2500–2750
2750–3000
3000–3250
3250–3500
≥3500

Primaquine is a medication used to treat and prevent malaria and to treat Pneumocystis pneumonia.

- Primaquine

Treatment of P. vivax requires both treatment of blood stages (with chloroquine or artemisinin-based combination therapy) and clearance of liver forms with an 8-aminoquinoline agent such as primaquine or tafenoquine.

- Malaria

6 related topics with Alpha

Plasmodium vivax

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Protozoal parasite and a human pathogen.

This parasite is the most frequent and widely distributed cause of recurring malaria.

Where an artemisinin-based combination therapy has been adopted as the first-line treatment for P. falciparum malaria, it may also be used for P. vivax malaria in combination with primaquine for radical cure.

Tafenoquine

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Tafenoquine, sold under the brand name Krintafel among others, is a medication used to prevent and to treat malaria.

Tafenoquine is related to primaquine.

Plasmodium ovale

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Plasmodium ovale is a species of parasitic protozoa that causes tertian malaria in humans.

Standard treatment is concurrent treatment with chloroquine and primaquine.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency

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Most common enzyme deficiency worldwide, is an inborn error of metabolism that predisposes to red blood cell breakdown.

It is recommended that people be tested for G6PDD before certain medications, such as primaquine, are taken.

A side effect of this disease is that it confers protection against malaria, in particular the form of malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum, the most deadly form of malaria.

8-Aminoquinoline

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8-amino derivative of quinoline.

The derivatives primaquine, tafenoquine and pamaquine have been tested for anti-malaria activity.

Clindamycin

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Antibiotic medication used for the treatment of a number of bacterial infections, including osteomyelitis or joint infections, pelvic inflammatory disease, strep throat, pneumonia, acute otitis media (middle ear infections), and endocarditis.

In combination with quinine, it can be used to treat malaria.

Clindamycin may also be used to treat toxoplasmosis, and, in combination with primaquine, is effective in treating mild to moderate Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia.