[Plasmodium vivax, a parasite coming out of the shadows].

Since 2007, the incidence and mortality of malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum have declined. However, this trend has not been seen with Plasmodium vivax which has biological features. Severe vivax malaria is increasingly reported in endemic countries even though P. vivax has been thought of as a benign disease. Diagnosis is challenging: the usual rapid diagnostic tests are less sensitive in detecting P. vivax and there is no test for the detection of the dormant forms (hypnozoites). The treatment of the acute phase is an artemisinin based combination, e.g. artemetherlumefantrine. Primaquine, which is the only currently available treatment against hypnozoites for the prevention of relapses, may trigger acute haemolytic anaemia in individuals with G6PD deficiency.