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Meta-Analysis
. 2025 Nov 14;24(1):400.
doi: 10.1186/s12936-025-05642-w.

Automated reporting of primaquine dose efficacy, tolerability and safety for Plasmodium vivax malaria using a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis

Peta Edler  1 Megha Rajasekhar  2 David J Price  1   2 Ishag Adam  3 Ghulam Rahim Awab  4   5 Bridget E Barber  6   7   8 Larissa W Brasil  9   10 Nathália N Chamma-Siqueira  11 Cindy S Chu  12   13 Liwang Cui  14 André Daher  15   16 Margarete do Socorro M Gomes  17   18 Lilia Gonzalez-Ceron  19 Matthew J Grigg  7   8 Harin Karunajeewa  20 Marcus V G Lacerda  21   22   23 Simone Ladeia-Andrade  24   25 Toby Leslie  26   27 Benedikt Ley  7 Kartini Lidia  28 Alejandro Llanos-Cuentas  29 Rhea J Longley  30   31   32 Laurens Manning  33   34   35 Daniel Abebe Mekonnen  36   37 Wuelton Marcelo Monteiro  21   38 Brioni R Moore  34   39   40 Francois Nosten  12   13 Ayodhia Pitaloka Pasaribu  41 Dhelio B Pereira  42   43 Jeanne Rini Poespoprodjo  44   45   46 Sasithon Pukrittayakamee  4 Komal Raj Rijal  47   48 Kavitha Saravu  49 André M Siqueira  50 Inge Sutanto  51 Walter R J Taylor  4   13 Pham Vinh Thanh  52 Kamala Thriemer  7 José Luiz F Vieira  53 Nicholas J White  4   13 Asnakew K Yeshiwondim  54 Lina M Zuluaga-Idarraga  55   56 Philippe J Guerin  13   57   58 Julie A Simpson  2   59 Ric N Price  7   13   59 Robert J Commons  60   61   62 WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN) Vivax Primaquine Dosing Efficacy, Tolerability and Safety Study Group
Collaborators, Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Automated reporting of primaquine dose efficacy, tolerability and safety for Plasmodium vivax malaria using a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis

Peta Edler et al. Malar J. .

Abstract

Background: The antirelapse efficacy of primaquine is related to the total dose administered, whereas the risks of haemolysis and gastrointestinal intolerance are associated with the daily dose administered. National Malaria Control Programmes require local information on efficacy, tolerability and safety to optimize antimalarial treatment policies for Plasmodium vivax malaria control and elimination efforts.

Methods: A living systematic review identified efficacy studies of uncomplicated P. vivax malaria including patients treated with daily primaquine regimens, published since January 1, 2000. Available data were pooled and an R Shiny app was developed to integrate statistical analyses performed using R and Stata that assessed the impact of primaquine mg/kg dose on efficacy, hematological safety and gastrointestinal tolerability.

Results: As of January 16, 2025, a total of 9,270 individual patient data records from 41 studies have been collated into the standardized repository. Open-access automated reports were generated for user-selected countries or regions to investigate location specific effects of primaquine dose on efficacy, safety and tolerability. The reports include visual and tabular displays of the outcomes.

Conclusions: These automated reports leverage a large database to provide accessible data for national and regional policy makers and researchers to assess the clinical consequences of different primaquine regimens in different endemic settings. The reports will inform local and regional policy decisions and research priorities in vivax-endemic areas.

Keywords: Plasmodium vivax; Automated report; Dose; Efficacy; Haemolysis; Malaria; Primaquine; Recurrence; Relapse; Tolerability.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Shared data were obtained according to ethical approvals from the country of origin and original study and were shared in a controlled framework with specific restrictions on their use. The data are pseudonymised and unable to be linked to individuals. As such, this analysis did not require additional ethical approval according to the guidelines of the Oxford Central University Research Ethics Committee. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: JAG and GCKWK are former employees of GSK and hold shares in GSK and AstraZeneca. GCKWK reports travel support from AstraZeneca. JKB reports institutional research funding from MMV, GSK, the Wellcome Trust, and Sanaria; participation on the US National Institute of Health Data Safety Monitoring Board; and membership of the Editorial Board of Travel Medicine and Infectious Diseases and the Guidelines Development Group for Malaria Control and Elimination, Global Malaria Program, WHO. RJC, RNP and JKB report contributions to Up-to-Date. NMA reports membership of the Writing Group for the Australian national Malaria Treatment Guidelines: Therapeutic Guidelines, 2025. All other authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Generation of region and country automated reports on primaquine efficacy and safety
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Map of study sites from which data were available for automated reports as of January 16, 2025

References

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