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Fig. 1 | Malaria Journal

Fig. 1

From: Statistical methods to derive efficacy estimates of anti-malarials for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria: pitfalls and challenges

Fig. 1

(Adapted from White-2002 [1])

Therapeutic responses post anti-malarial treatment. The blue line represents a hypothetical concentration versus time profile for an antimalarial drug administered orally. The green and red lines represent scenarios for parasite burden versus time profiles following treatment for an infection where all the parasites are completely killed resulting in cure (green) and an infection where parasites are initially killed by high drug levels but with drug levels below the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), net parasite growth results in subsequent recrudescence (red). The purple and orange lines represent parasite-time profiles for new infections; either an infection due to a new parasite of the same species (orange) or an infection with a Plasmodium vivax parasite (purple) during the follow-up. The left y-axis is for parasite density, and the right y-axis shows drug levels at hypothetical units. The horizontal black line represents the microscopic limit of detection for parasites. The maximum number of parasites a human body can contain is 1012

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