This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Artemether-lumefantrine helped cure malaria regardless of tablet formulation
A new artemether-lumefantrine dispersible tablet was just as effective as the crushed standard tablet in treating malaria, with cure rates of more than 95% of African children, regardless of their body weight.
The researchers divided 812 children aged younger than 12 years with acute uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria into three body weight groups: 5 kg to under 15 kg; 15 kg to under 25 kg; and 25 kg to under 35 kg.
In the lowest-weight group, 236 children received the dispersible tablets and 241 received the crushed standard tablets. For the middle-weight group, 139 received the dispersible tablets and 138 were administered the standard tablets. Twenty-eight children in the highest-weight group received the dispersible tablets and 30 received the standard tablets. All children received a six-dose regimen.
Eradication rates were 97.8% (95% CI, 96.3%-99.2%) for those who received the dispersible tablet and 98.5% (95% CI, 97.4%-99.7%) for those who received the standard tablet. Mean time to parasite clearance in the lowest-weight group was 33.5 hours for the dispersible tablet and 33.2 hours for the standard tablet. For the middle-weight category, the time to parasite clearance was 30.7 hours for the dispersible tablet and 32.6 hours for the crushed tablet. In the highest-weight group, the parasite was cleared in 30 hours for the dispersible tablet and 31.5 hours for the standard tablet.
Overall, the median time to parasite clearance was 34.3 hours for dispersible and 34.9 hours for standard. The median time to fever clearance and the adverse event profiles were also similar across body weight and treatment groups.
Otieno L. #571.
Presented at: ASTMH 57th Annual Meeting; Dec. 7-11, 2008; New Orleans.