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Mefloquine malaria treatment during pregnancy not harmful to newborns
Preventive treatment of malaria during pregnancy with mefloquine did not adversely affect early development in newborns when compared with treatment using sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, according to recent research in PLOS Medicine.
“We report here the nutritional outcomes, psychomotor development, morbidity and survival of infants born to women receiving either [mefloquine (MQ)] or [sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine SP)] as [intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp)],” Clara Menéndez Santos, MD, PhD, director of the maternal, child and reproductive health initiative at the ISGlobal Barcelona Centre for International Health Research at the University of Barcelona, and colleagues wrote. “No significant differences were found between IPTp with MQ and SP administered in pregnancy on infant mortality, morbidity, and nutritional outcomes.”
Clara Menéndez Santos
The researchers studied 4,247 infants born to mothers who received either MQ or SP preventive treatment for malaria while pregnant in four sub-Saharan countries. Children were examined at ages 1 month, 9 months and 1 year to record growth and psychomotor development, such as language skills, motor skills, social skills and hearing. The researchers also assessed participants for malaria status, anemia, hospitalizations and mortality at age 1 year.
Study results showed no significant differences in nutritional outcomes, psychomotor development or morbidity in either treatment group.
The researchers said there were nonsignificant differences in three psychomotor developmental skills at age 9 months among infants in the MQ group compared with those in the SP group. These skills included the ability to stand without help, ability to walk without support and ability to bring solid food to the mouth.
The researchers noted that outcomes for 26% of the infants at 12 months were unavailable, indicating that study data may have been affected by this omission.
“In the current study there was a higher proportion of children unable to perform certain developmental items at 9 months of age in the MQ group compared to the SP group,” Menéndez Santos and colleagues wrote. “Though this finding is interesting and may call for further studies in children whose mothers are exposed to MQ during pregnancy, it cannot be ruled out that it might be explained by the multiple testing or open design of the study.” – by David Costill
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
