Tafenoquine as a single dose is an effective alternative to Primaquine for prevention of recurrence of P vivax malaria

Objectives:
Plasmodium vivax is a frequent cause of recurring malaria in endemic areas as in its latent stage it resides in liver and is responsible for relapse. Treatment with 8 aminoquinoline Primaquine is given for 14 days, however studies have shown dismal results with adherence to therapy. A new long acting 8 aminoquinoline, Tafenoquine was introduced that showed efficacy and safety almost similar to Primaquine in a single dose regimen, hence giving hopes for improved compliance and help in eradicating malaria.

The goal of this review article is to determine whether Tafenoquine as a single dose is an effective alternative to Primaquine for prevention of recurrence of P vivax malaria.

Study design:
This review article included 4 RCTs.

Results and conclusions:
The investigators found pooled analysis showed that the number of episodes of recurrence at 6 months between Tafenoquine and Primaquine [RR = 1.08, 95% CI = 0.74 to 1.59] and between Tafenoquine and placebo [RR = 0.17, 95% CI = 0.03 to 1.11] was statistically insignificant.

The investigators found comparison of serious adverse events did not show any significant risk associated with the use of Tafenoquine as compared to Primaquine when analyzed till day 29, which was the time period considered to show most probable drug associated events.

The investigators concluded Tafenoquine as a single dose is an effective alternative to Primaquine for prevention of recurrence of P vivax malaria, with a reasonable safety profile.

Original title:
Single dose tafenoquine for preventing relapse in people with plasmodium vivax malaria-an updated meta-analysis by Anjum MU, Naveed AK, […], Naveed OK.

Link:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32036012

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