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Table 1 Definitions of different forms of chemoprevention.

From: Anti-malarial drugs and the prevention of malaria in the population of malaria endemic areas

a. Chemoprophylaxis. This term is used to describe the administration of an antimalarial drug or drug combination in such a way that blood levels are maintained above the inhibitory level of survival of the local strains of parasite for the whole of the period at risk and, in the case of travellers, for an appropriate period afterwards in order to kill emerging liver forms.

b. Intermittent preventive treatment (IPT). This term is used to describe the administration of a full curative dose of an antimalarial or antimalarial combination to a selected, target population at specified times without determining whether or not the subject is infected. It is recognized that between drug administrations blood levels may fall below the protective level and that infections may still occur although some of these may be truncated by persistent low levels of drug.

c. Mass drug administration (MDA). This term is used to describe the administration of an antimalarial drug or drug combination to a whole population without screening for the presence of infection. MDA may involve either the administration of a full therapeutic course or a sub-therapeutic one as once practized through the use of medicated salt.