A randomized trial of artesunate mefloquine versus artemether lumefantrine for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Senegalese children.

An open randomized clinical trial study was carried out to compare efficacy and tolerability of artesunate mefloquine 25 mg/kg body weight (Artequin paediatric) versus artemether lumefantrine (Coartem) in the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in children. In each arm, 160 patients were assigned to receive either AS + MQ or AL with 28 days follow-up. The adequate clinical and parasitological response at Day 28 for per protocol analysis was after polymerase chain reaction correction, 100% for AS + MQ and 96.8% for AL. In the intention-to-treat analysis, the respective cure rates were 96.2% for AS + MQ and 93.7% for AL. No serious adverse events (AEs) were reported. The most frequent AE was vomiting, 30% in AS + MQ arm and 36% in AL arm. No biological significant abnormal values related to the study drug have been reported. The new pediatric artesunate mefloquine formulated in granule fixed dose combination is well adapted to children in Africa.