Chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium malariae in south Sumatra, Indonesia.
Maguire JD., Sumawinata IW., Masbar S., Laksana B., Prodjodipuro P., Susanti I., Sismadi P., Mahmud N., Bangs MJ., Baird JK.
Oral chloroquine is the treatment of choice for uncomplicated Plasmodium malariae infections worldwide. We did a prospective 28-day in-vivo assessment of the efficacy of chloroquine for treatment of P malariae on Legundi Island in Lampung Bay, Sumatra, Indonesia. Of 28 patients, one had recurrent parasitaemia on day 28, and two had persistent parasitaemia to day 8. Whole-blood chloroquine and desethylchloroquine concentrations were at ordinarily effective levels (> or = 100 microg/L) on day 8 in both cases of persistent parasitaemia. These findings suggest that clinical resistance to chloroquine by P malariae occurs in the Indonesian archipelago of southeast Asia.