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Recurrent malaria, caused by the parasite Plasmodium vivax is the most common type of malaria outside of sub-Saharan Africa, such as Brazil.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) The drug regulator in the United States approved the sale of tafenoquine, an effective drug to expel the parasite into the liver. This is the first time in 60 years, notes the BBC, that there is a new treatment for the disease to receive approval from the US agency.
Tafenoquine, which can be taken at the same time as another drug to attack malaria, is far from novelty.
It was developed three decades ago in the United States, but the tests did not advance at the time, explained expert Marcus Lacerda at the agency O Globo.
For several years, the pharmaceutical industry has not given priority to malaria because it is not an interesting commercial area.
Tafenoquine is given in a single dose, unlike primaquine, which lasts 14 days. The symptoms of the disease disappear before two weeks, it is common that patients discontinue treatment with primaquine due to side effects (anemia and malaise) and are subject to a relapse [19659006] Phenomenal Conquest
"The ability to get rid of the parasite in the liver with a single dose of tafenoquine is a phenomenal achievement and represents in my opinion one of the most significant advances in the treatment of malaria during 60 years, "said Ric Price, researcher at the University of Oxford.
But there are not only positive aspects in tafenoquina.
For example, people deficient in G6PD (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) should not take this medicine because it can cause anemia.
There is also concern that, at strong doses, medications can be a problem for persons with psychiatric disorders
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