Single-day, three-dose treatment with fixed dose combination artesunate/sulfamethoxypyrazine/pyrimethamine to cure Plasmodium falciparum malaria.

OBJECTIVES

Malaria kills approximately 1.5 to 2.7 million people each year. Despite the introduction of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), the treatment of malaria is hampered by problems such as inadequate efficacy, recrudescence, early re-infection, low patient compliance, and high cost price of drugs. This study tested the hypothesis that the co-formulated fixed dose combination (FDC) artesunate/sulfamethoxypyrazine/pyrimethamine (As/SMP) administered as a 24-hour therapy with a dose interval of 12 hours is as efficacious and safe as the administration of the same drug over 3 days given with a dose interval of 24 hours, for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Ivory Coast.

METHOD

Two hundred and twenty-one patients presenting with uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria were randomly assigned to either one of the two dosing schemes. Treatment efficacy was assessed using the current 28-day World Health Organization protocol, success being determined by absence of recrudescence and parasitemia on day 28.

RESULTS

Both treatment regimens were highly efficacious, with a success rate of 100% (111/111) for the 3-day therapy and 99% (109/110) for the 24-hour therapy. Only one patient in the 24-hour therapy group showed late treatment failure. No serious adverse events or significant laboratory abnormalities were seen.

CONCLUSION

The 24-hour therapy is as well tolerated and efficacious as the same medicament administered over 3 days. This low cost and simplified three-pill treatment is certain to improve compliance.