Addressing health equity for breastfeeding women: primaquine for Plasmodium vivax radical cure.
Abla N., Marrast AC., Jambert E., Richardson N., Duparc S., Almond L., Rowland Yeo K., Pan X., Tarning J., Zhao P., Culpepper J., Waitt C., Koldeweij C., Cole S., Butler AS., Khier S., Möhrle JJ., El Gaaloul M.
Plasmodium vivax malaria remains a global health challenge, with approximately 6.9 million estimated cases in 2022. The parasite has a dormant liver stage, the hypnozoite, which reactivates to cause repeated relapses over weeks, months, or years. These relapses erode patient health, contribute to the burden of malaria, and promote transmission. Radical cure to prevent relapses requires administration of an 8-aminoquinoline, either primaquine or tafenoquine. However, malaria treatment guidelines updated by the World Health Organization (WHO) in October 2023 restrict primaquine use for women breastfeeding children