Primaquine is a medication used to treat and prevent malaria and to treat Pneumocystis pneumonia. Specifically it is used for malaria due to Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium ovale along with other medications and for prevention if other options cannot be used. It is an alternative treatment for Pneumocystis pneumonia together with clindamycin. It is taken by mouth.Common side effects include nausea, vomiting, and stomach cramps. Primaquine should not be given to people with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency due to the risk of red blood cell breakdown. It is often recommended that primaquine not be used during pregnancy. It may be used while breastfeeding if the baby is known not to have G6PD deficiency. The mechanisms of action is not entirely clear but is believed to involve effects on the malaria parasites DNA.Primaquine was first made in 1946. It is on the World Health Organizations List of Essential Medicines. It is available as a generic medication. Medical uses
Malaria
Primaquine is primarily used to prevent relapse of malaria due to Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium ovale. It eliminates hypnozoites, the dormant liver form of the parasite, after the organisms have been cleared from the bloodstream. If primaquine is not administered to patients with proven P. vivax or P. ovale infection, a very high likelihood of relapse exists for weeks or months (sometimes years).
History
Primaquine was first made by Robert Elderfield of Columbia University in the 1940s as part of a coordinated effort led by the Office of Scientific Research and Development in World War II to develop anti-malarial drugs to protect and treat soldiers fighting in the Pacific theater. Society and culture
It is on the World Health Organizations List of Essential Medicines. Names
It is a generic drug and is available under many brand names worldwide, including Jasoprim, Malirid, Neo-Quipenyl, Pimaquin, Pmq, Primachina, Primacin, Primaquina, Primaquine, Primaquine diphosphate, Primaquine Phosphate, and Remaquin. SN-13272

Research
Primaquine has been studied in animal models of Chagas disease and was about four times as effective as the standard of care, nifurtimox.A clinical trial in 2022 demonstrated the efficacy of higher-dose primaquine in preventing relapse of P. vivax malaria. References
External links
"Primaquine". Drug Information Portal. U.S. National Library of Medicine.