The Effect of Chloroquine Diphosphate 1 on Malaria Splenomegaly

Abstract
Summary and Conclusions 1. Weekly administration of suppressive doses (0.5 gm.) of chloroquine diphosphate, without recourse to antimosquito measures, not only effectively controlled malaria in the village of Saideh, Lebanon, but reduced the splenic index from 59 to 6, and the average size of enlarged spleens (AES) from 1.9 to 0.12, within an average treatment period of 26 weeks. 2. The splenic index decreased only from 70 to 50 during the corresponding period of eight months when effective malaria control was established for the neighboring village of Amik by means of D.D.T. residual spray. 3. Chloroquine diphosphate can be administered in weekly suppressive doses for at least seven months without undesirable side-effects, even in pregnancy, and is recommended for the treatment of splenomegaly due to chronic malaria. 4. It is concluded that malaria eradication within a single season will be facilitated by the combined operation of mass suppressive medication with chloroquine diphosphate and appropriate application of D.D.T., thereby simultaneously reducing both the human and insect reservoirs of the disease.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: