Chloroquine resistant malaria in West Malaysia

Chloroquine resistance is a well established entity in South East Asia, and presents a problem of increasing importance. Strains of P. falciparum resistant to chloroquine have also been found to be resistant to amodiaquine and a combination of pyrimethamine and sulphadoxine. Knowledge of the drug sensitivity of the strains of malaria parasite in a given locality is important so that the right choice of drugs can be made in treatment of the disease. The treatment of chloroquine resistant malaria in West Malaysia is a subject of another paper but suffice it to say that increased doses of chloroquine have still been found to be effective in treating many cases of falciparum malaria from areas of chloroquine resistance.