Trial reportMalaria journal2018
A pilot randomized controlled trial to compare the effectiveness of two 14-day primaquine regimens for the radical cure of vivax malaria in South India.
Trial report in Malaria journal, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Automated reporting of primaquine dose efficacy, tolerability and safety for Plasmodium vivax malaria using a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis.Malaria journal · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of primaquine dose on the risk of recurrence in patients with uncomplicated Plasmodium vivax: a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis.The Lancet. Infectious diseases · 2024Pooled it
- Safety and efficacy of primaquine in patients withBMJ global health · 2023Pooled it
- Effect of adherence to primaquine on the risk of Plasmodium vivax recurrence: a WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis.Malaria journal · 2023Pooled it
- Methods to Assess Adult and Adolescent Patients' Adherence to Antimalarial Treatment: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Pooled it
- Primaquine at alternative dosing schedules for preventing relapse in people with Plasmodium vivax malaria.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- 14 days of high-dose versus low-dose primaquine treatment in patients with Plasmodium vivax infection in Cambodia: a randomised, single-centre, open-label efficacy study.The Lancet. Infectious diseases · 2025Trial
- Effect of higher dose primaquine for the radical cure ofThe Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2026Article
- Article
- Piloting the options assessment toolkit with national malaria programme leaders from the Asia-Pacific countries: a meeting report.Malaria journal · 2025Article
- High versus low dose of 14 days treatment of primaquine inmedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Supervised administration of primaquine may enhance adherence to radical cure forThe Lancet regional health. Southeast Asia · 2023Review
- Towards the elimination of Plasmodium vivax malaria: Implementing the radical cure.PLoS medicine · 2021Review
- Plasmodium vivax in the Era of the Shrinking P. falciparum Map.Trends in parasitology · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundRadical cure of Plasmodium vivax malaria requires treatment with a blood schizonticide and a hypnozoitocide (primaquine) to eradicate the dormant liver stages. There has been uncertainty about the operational effectiveness and optimum dosing of the currently recommended 14-day primaquine (PQ) course.
methodsA two centre, randomized, open-label, two arm study was conducted in South India. Patients were randomized to receive either high dose (0.5 mg base/kg body weight) or conventional dose (0.25 mg/kg) PQ for 14 days. Plasma concentrations of PQ and carboxyprimaquine (CPQ) on the 7th day of treatment were measured by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography. Study subjects were followed up for 6 months. Recurrent infections were genotyped using capillary fragment length polymorphism of two PCR-amplified microsatellite markers (MS07 and MS 10).
resultsFifty patients were enrolled. Baseline characteristics and laboratory features did not differ significantly between the groups. Mean age of the study population was 42 ± 16.0 years. Recurrences 80-105 days later occurred in 4 (8%) patients, two in each the groups. All recurrences had the same microsatellite genotype as that causing the index infection suggesting all were relapses. One relapse was associated with low CPQ concentrations suggesting poor adherence.
conclusionsThis small pilot trial supports the effectiveness of the currently recommended lower dose (0.25 mg/kg/day) 14 day PQ regimen for the radical cure of vivax malaria in South India. Trial registration Clinical Trials Registry-India, CTRI/2017/03/007999. Registered 3 March 2017, http://ctri.nic.in/Clinicaltrials/regtrial.php?modid=1&compid=19&EncHid=82755.86366 .
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.