Evidence of Self-Medication with Chloroquine before Consultation for Malaria in the Southern Pacific Coast Region of Colombia
Self-medication with antimalarial drugs is a major factor in the development of drug resistance, exerting subtherapeutic drug pressure on circulating parasite populations. Data on self-medication with antimalarials from the Southern Pacific coast region of Colombia, where 4-aminoquinolines resistanc...
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Published in | The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene Vol. 100; no. 1; pp. 66 - 71 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Institute of Tropical Medicine
01.01.2019
The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Self-medication with antimalarial drugs is a major factor in the development of drug resistance, exerting subtherapeutic drug pressure on circulating parasite populations. Data on self-medication with antimalarials from the Southern Pacific coast region of Colombia, where 4-aminoquinolines resistance and political instability prevail, are vital to elimination strategies. We present results of an exploratory study of 254 individuals having malaria symptoms who sought malaria diagnosis in two hospitals in Tumaco, Department of Nariño, Colombia. Thirty-two percent (82/254) of participants had positive Saker-Solomons urine tests, indicating self-medication with chloroquine (CQ) before consultation for diagnosis. Notably, among 30 pregnant women participating in the study, 43% were Saker--Solomons positive. Molecular analysis of the K76T position encoded by the
gene revealed the mutant allele in all four samples that were both positive for
and positive for the Saker-Solomons test, suggesting persistent CQ pressure. The high frequency of self-medication, particularly among pregnant women merits attention by public health authorities and comprehensive investigation. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Authors’ addresses: Gustavo Diaz and Diego F. Echeverry, Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas (CIDEIM), Cali, Colombia, and Universidad Icesi, Cali, Colombia, E-mails: diaz.gustavo2011@gmail.com and difereg77@gmail.com. Alvaro Mauricio Lasso, Claribel Murillo, and Lidia M. Montenegro, Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas (CIDEIM), Cali, Colombia, E-mails: amlasso@cideim.org.co, clarms76@gmail.com, and made8610@gmail.com. Financial support: This study received financial support from Colciencias, call 656-2014 “Es Tiempo de Volver” award FP44842-503-2014 and call 251-2010 award 222951928929. This research and its publication were also supported by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number D43TW006589. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. |
ISSN: | 0002-9637 1476-1645 |
DOI: | 10.4269/ajtmh.18-0515 |