Open AccessCLINICAL RESPONSE OF A BRAND OF ARTEMETHER- LUMEFANTRINE IN CHILDREN BELOW FIVE YEARS OLD
Author(s) -
John E Arute,
Valentine U Odili,
Emmanuel Agbamu,
Winifred A Ojieabu
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
malaysian journal of pharmaceutical sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2180-429X
pISSN - 1675-7319
DOI - 10.21315/mjps2021.19.1.9
Subject(s) - medicine , artemether/lumefantrine , malaria , regimen , severe malaria , prospective cohort study , clinical research , plasmodium falciparum , proportional hazards model , pediatrics , artemisinin , immunology
Malaria is a major health concern in children aged less than five years old, globally. In Nigeria, it was estimated that 300,000 children die annually from malaria. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the clinical response of a brand of arthemether-lumefantrine (AL) for clearing parasitaemia in children aged less than five years old. This was a prospective study of the clinical and parasitological responses to the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) malaria using a popular dispersible brand of AL 20/120 mg. A hundred participants within 6–59 months with P. falciparum malaria were enrolled in the study and participants who could not complete the follow-ups were excluded. The drug was administered to participants following same dosage regimen on days 0, 1, 2 and followed-up on days 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 in which the participants were assessed clinically and parasitologically. Data was analysed using MS-Excel 2010 and SPSS version 18. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to assess clinical outcomes. The study showed that 73 participants completed the 28 days follow-up while 27 participants were lost to follow-up. Clinical outcome revealed no early treatment failure (ETF), one late clinical failure (LCF), 10 parasitological failures and 62 adequate clinical and parasitological response (ACPF). Clinical response was 84.9%, cumulative success and failure rate was 93.6% and 6.4%, respectively, on day 28. The clinical response of AL was efficacious. The failure rate of 6.4% could likely be as a result of reinfection within the period of follow-up.