Efficacy of 10-day melarsoprol schedule 2 years after treatment for late-stage gambiense sleeping sickness.
In 2000, we reported that a new short treatment schedule of melarsoprol was not worse than the longer and demanding standard treatment for late-stage human African trypanosomiasis. This alternative schedule was assessed in an open, randomised clinical equivalence trial of 500 patients in Angola. 24 h after treatment, all patients were parasite free. Of 442 patients, 12 (3%) had relapsed after 1 year, of whom seven (3%) had had standard treatment and five (2%) the alternative treatment. After 2 years, 23 (5%) relapsing patients were reported, 11 (5%) in the standard treatment group and 12 (6%) in the new group. The results at the 2-year follow-up support and strengthen our previous findings.
Schmid
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C
Swiss Tropical Institute, 4002 Basel, Switzerland. Christian.Burri@unibas.ch
Nkunku
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S
Merolle
A
A
Vounatsou
P
P
Burri
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C
D000818:Animals; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008549:Melarsoprol / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D014344:Trypanocidal Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014347:Trypanosoma brucei gambiense / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014353:Trypanosomiasis, African / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000469:parasitology
D014344:Trypanocidal Agents; D008549:Melarsoprol