[Therapeutic efficacy of different antimalarial regimens in the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border region].

The search for short treatments for malaria is still a goal for many developing countries. The World Health Organization has recommended a three-day treatment with primaquine and quinine, but this treatment is difficult to apply in many rural areas because it requires a malaria technician to stay at least three days in a community. This is very hard when these communities are dispersed and increases the cost of treatment and supplies. This study tested treatments of 1, 5, and 9 days against a treatment of 14 days. Using the Kaplan-Meier method, no statistical difference was found among these four treatment approaches. We strongly recommend using the one-day treatment, in and endemic rural areas where the population is dispersed and has difficulty accessing health care.