During a 5-year period, almost 4000 Australian personnel served in the Papua New Guinean province of\ud
Bougainville.\ud
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1.The first randomised, double-blind trial comparing Malarone (a combination of atovaquone and proguanil) with doxycycline was conducted during the deployment. Malarone was as effective as doxycycline and better tolerated.\ud
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2.Another trial compared a 3-day course of tafenoquine with the course of primaquine that was standard at that\ud
time for post-exposure prophylaxis. There was no statistical difference in rates of malaria following either regimen.\ud
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3. There were 64 episodes of malaria affecting 50 individuals. This gave an attack rate of 41.6 malarious\ud
episodes per 1000 man years. Most attacks occurred after the person had returned to Australia.\ud
4.The dosage of primaquine was increased partway through the deployment, from 22.5mg to 30mg per day.\ud
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The attack rate fell from 67.1 to 13.2 per 1000 man years. The attack rate following tafenoquine post-exposure\ud
ADF Health 2004; 5: 69-72 prophylaxis was 63.5 per 1000 man years
