A Clinical Evaluation of Chloroquine on Malaria in Japan

• Published in: Kansenshogaku Zasshi Vol. 61; no. 9; pp. 1064 - 1069
• Main Authors: TANABE, Kiyokatsu, OHTOMO, Hiroshi, OTUJI, Yoshito, NAKABAYASHI, Toshio, TANAKA, Hiroshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japan The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases 01.09.1987
• Subjects: Adult; Animals; Chloroquine; Chloroquine - adverse effects; Chloroquine - therapeutic use; Clinical trials; Drug Evaluation; Female; Humans; Imported tropical diseases; Japan; Malaria; Malaria - drug therapy; Male; Middle Aged; Plasmodium falciparum; Plasmodium vivax; Japan
• ISSN: 0387-5911; 1884-569X
• DOI: 10.11150/kansenshogakuzasshi1970.61.1064

Since an incidence of malaria has been low in Japan, few drug for malaria is registered, therefore it is difficult for clinicians to get some antimalarial drugs when patients from abroad have acute symptoms of malaria. To improve this trouble, the Study Group on Pharmcotherapy for Imported tropical Diseases has been organized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (Japan) in 1980. For these six years, chloroquine phosphate (Resochin, Bayer or Aralen, Winthlop) has been administered to 104 cases of malaria. In this report, 42 cases of Japanese were discussed; ten cases were infected with falciparum malaria and the others were with vivax one. A therapeutic dose of chloroquine was 1, 500 mg (base). It was found by laboratory examinations of blood smears that chloroquine was effective to clear the parasitemia in all cases. One patient out of 30 ones with vivax malaria recurred twice, although they had received radical treatment with primaquine. Adverse reactions were observed in three cases; liver injury, skin eruption and photophobia. The relationship between chloroquine and the side effects was not clear. On the other hand, such abnormalities in laboratory examination were found after chloroquine was administered, such as elevation of ESR (3 cases), leukocytosis (11 cases), and elevated values of serum transaminase (GOT; 4 cases and GPT; 3 cases). In this trial, it is estimated that chloroquine is an effective and relatively safty drug for Japaneses cases of imported malaria.