We evaluated the temporal progression of in vitro P. falciparum resistance to chloroquine, amodiaquine, quinine and mefloquine in two areas with distinct socioeconomical and geographical characteristics: Lourenço, in Amapá state and Paragominas, in Pará state. The former region is essentially an "open" gold mining camp, whereas the latter is one currently undergoing a colonization settlement process, in addition to expanding economical activities which mainly include cattle raising and wood exploitation. Our results show high resistance rates to chloroquine in the two study areas: 79.8% and 68.4% in Lourenço and Paragominas, respectively. Variations in the response of P. falciparum to both amodiaquine and quinine were recorded throughout the study period. On the other hand, no mefloquine P. falciparum resistant strains could be identified, despite the tact we had noted a decrease in sensitivity to this antimalarial drug throughout the study period.
Malaria; P. falciparum; In vitro resistance