{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T18:57:21Z","timestamp":1790708241847,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":13,"publisher":"American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]]},"abstract":"ABSTRACT.<\/jats:title>\n \n Postdeployment\n Plasmodium<\/jats:italic>\n infection continues to occur despite recommended chemoprophylaxis among military personnel and long-term travelers deployed to malaria-endemic regions. We evaluated factors associated with postdeployment\n Plasmodium<\/jats:italic>\n infection among South Korean soldiers receiving weekly mefloquine chemoprophylaxis during prolonged deployment to South Sudan. We conducted a retrospective study of 42 soldiers from a military unit who completed a standardized 40-week deployment to South Sudan between 2020 and 2023. All personnel were prescribed weekly mefloquine throughout deployment and 4 weeks after departure and reported completing the regimen. Postdeployment\n Plasmodium<\/jats:italic>\n infection was defined as laboratory-confirmed\n Plasmodium<\/jats:italic>\n infection detected after return from deployment despite completion of chemoprophylaxis. Demographic, anthropometric, clinical, and laboratory data were obtained from medical records. Nine soldiers developed postdeployment\n Plasmodium<\/jats:italic>\n infection (21.4%), of whom six had\n Plasmodium ovale<\/jats:italic>\n and three had\n Plasmodium falciparum<\/jats:italic>\n infection. No severe malaria cases or malaria-related deaths occurred. Median body surface area (BSA) was significantly higher among infected soldiers than controls (2.01 versus 1.90 m\n 2<\/jats:sup>\n ;\n P<\/jats:italic>\n = 0.007). In an age-adjusted Firth-penalized logistic regression model, higher BSA was independently associated with postdeployment\n Plasmodium<\/jats:italic>\n infection (adjusted odds ratio: 2.55 per 0.1 m\n 2<\/jats:sup>\n increase; 95% CI: 1.08\u20136.06;\n P<\/jats:italic>\n = 0.033), whereas body weight showed a borderline association. Postdeployment\n Plasmodium<\/jats:italic>\n infection occurred in one-fifth of soldiers despite recommended chemoprophylaxis, highlighting real-world malaria risk during prolonged deployment in highly endemic settings. Higher BSA may contribute to interindividual variability in prophylactic drug exposure. Prospective studies incorporating pharmacokinetic measurements are needed to clarify relationships between body size, drug exposure, and malaria prevention effectiveness.\n <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.26-0407","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T17:57:03Z","timestamp":1790704623000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Postdeployment Plasmodium Infections among South Korean Soldiers Receiving Mefloquine Chemoprophylaxis in South Sudan"],"prefix":"10.4269","author":[{"given":"Jun-Won","family":"Seo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Chosun University, Jeonnam-Gwangju, Republic of Korea;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Da Young","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Chosun University, Jeonnam-Gwangju, Republic of Korea;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Na Ra","family":"Yun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Chosun University, Jeonnam-Gwangju, Republic of Korea;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chul Gab","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Korea Occupational Disease Surveillance Center, Jeonnam-Gwangju, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dong-Min","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Chosun University, Jeonnam-Gwangju, Republic of Korea;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2795","reference":[{"issue":"10130","key":"b1","series-title":"Lancet","first-page":"1608","article-title":"Malaria","volume":"391","author":"Ashley","year":"2018"},{"issue":"2","key":"b2","series-title":"JAMA","first-page":"212","article-title":"An outbreak of malaria in US Army Rangers returning from Afghanistan","volume":"293","author":"Kotwal","year":"2005"},{"issue":"7657","key":"b3","series-title":"BMJ","first-page":"1362","article-title":"Preventing malaria in travellers","volume":"336","author":"Lalloo","year":"2008"},{"issue":"3","key":"b4","series-title":"Clin Microbiol Rev","first-page":"466","article-title":"Malaria chemoprophylaxis: Strategies for risk groups","volume":"21","author":"Schlagenhauf","year":"2008"},{"issue":"15","key":"b5","series-title":"Drugs","first-page":"2091","article-title":"Modern malaria 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Invest","first-page":"1084","article-title":"Antimalarial drug resistance","volume":"113","author":"White","year":"2004"},{"issue":"5 Pt 2","key":"b10","series-title":"Pediatr Res","first-page":"64r","article-title":"Resistance to antimalarial drugs: Molecular, pharmacologic, and clinical considerations","volume":"65","author":"Travassos","year":"2009"},{"issue":"3","key":"b11","series-title":"Clin Microbiol Rev","first-page":"508","article-title":"Resistance to therapies for infection by Plasmodium vivax.","volume":"22","author":"Baird","year":"2009"},{"issue":"4","key":"b12","series-title":"Clin Pharmacokinet","first-page":"264","article-title":"Clinical pharmacokinetics of mefloquine","volume":"19","author":"Karbwang","year":"1990"},{"issue":"4","key":"b13","series-title":"Clin Pharmacol Ther","first-page":"359","article-title":"The scientific basis of body surface area-based dosing","volume":"95","author":"Chatelut","year":"2014"}],"container-title":["The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ajtmh.org\/view\/journals\/tpmd\/aop\/article-10.4269-ajtmh.26-0407\/article-10.4269-ajtmh.26-0407.xml","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ajtmh.org\/downloadpdf\/journals\/tpmd\/aop\/article-10.4269-ajtmh.26-0407\/article-10.4269-ajtmh.26-0407.xml","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T17:57:03Z","timestamp":1790704623000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ajtmh.org\/view\/journals\/tpmd\/aop\/article-10.4269-ajtmh.26-0407\/article-10.4269-ajtmh.26-0407.xml"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]]},"references-count":13,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4269\/ajtmh.26-0407","relation":{},"ISSN":["0002-9637","1476-1645"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0002-9637","type":"print"},{"value":"1476-1645","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]]}}}