The latent liver forms in Plasmodium vivax and P.ovale which give rise to clinical relapses of malaria byinvasion of the circulating erythrocytes.The hypnozoites are not eliminated by the usual chemotherapeutic drugs used in the treatment of malaria (chloroquine, quinine etc) and to achieve a radical cure in these relapsing malarias an antirelapse drug must be added to the treatment regime (e.g. primaquine or etaquine/Tefanoquine).
Recurrence of malarial parasitaemia with fresh infection of RBC’s by merozoites derived from hypnozoites in the liver. The reappearance of a disease after a period when the symptoms lessened or ceased. A renewed manifestation of clinical symptoms and/or parasitaemia associated with malaria infection, separated from the previous manifestation by an interval greater than the one reflecting the normal periodicity of paroxysms.... relapse