Abstract
Plasmodium malariae is regarded as usually being susceptible to all anti-malarials whether applied for prophylaxis or treatment. We report on three cases of P. malariae infection which occurred 12–14 weeks after anti-malarial chemoprophylaxis or treatment with mefloquine or atovaquone/proguanil. The most likely explanation for the failure of mefloquine and atovaquone/proguanil to prevent quartan malaria occurring some months later is the insufficient effect on the particularly long-lasting pre-erythrocytic development stages of P. malariae.
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Acknowledgements
We wish to thank Ebenezer Adusu, Institute of Tropical Medicine and International Health Berlin, for double reading of the stained blood films.
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The authors have no conflicts of interest concerning the work reported in this paper.
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Müller-Stöver, I., Verweij, J.J., Hoppenheit, B. et al. Plasmodium malariae infection in spite of previous anti-malarial medication. Parasitol Res 102, 547–550 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-007-0804-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-007-0804-4