Plasmodium Falciparumin Kinshasa, Zaire: In Vitro Drug Susceptibility Studies

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Abstract
In June 1986, Plasmodium falciparum parasites were collected from 33 children presenting at the Mama Yemo Hospital in Kinshasa (Zaire) and were successfully tested in vitro by a 48-hr reinvasion test for their susceptibility to various antimalarial drugs. In vitro resistance to chloroquine was found in 82% of the isolates, a marked increase over findings obtained by the same technique 3 years ago in Kinshasa. In vitro chloroquine resistance was not associated with a history of previous drug intake. The inhibitory endpoints for quinine varied from 0.03 to 1 µM, and correlated with the chloroquine endpoints in the corresponding isolates (r = 0.64). Pyrimethamine resistance in vitro was demonstrated in 52% of the isolates tested.