Intramuscular Artesunate for Severe Malaria in African Children: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Current artesunate (ARS) regimens for severe malaria are complex. Once daily intramuscular (i.m.) injection for 3 d would be simpler and more appropriate for remote health facilities than the current WHO-recommended regimen of five intravenous (i.v.) or i.m. injections over 4 d. We compared both a three-dose i.m. and a three-dose i.v. parenteral ARS regimen with the standard five-dose regimen using a non-inferiority design (with non-inferiority margins of 10%).

Methods and findings

This randomized controlled trial included children (0.5-10 y) with severe malaria at seven sites in five African countries to assess whether the efficacy of simplified three-dose regimens is non-inferior to a five-dose regimen. We randomly allocated 1,047 children to receive a total dos

SUBMITTER: Kremsner PG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4710539 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature