Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in pregnancy in Africa: what's new, what's needed?
Falciparum malaria is an important cause of maternal, perinatal and neonatal morbidity in high transmission settings in Sub-Saharan Africa. Intermittent preventive treatment with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP-IPT) has proven efficacious in reducing the burden of pregnancy-associated malaria but increasing levels of parasite resistance mean that the benefits of national SP-IPT programmes may soon be seriously undermined in much of the region. Hence, there is an urgent need to develop alternative drug regimens for IPT in pregnancy. This paper reviews published safety and efficacy data on various antimalarials and proposes several candidate combination regimens for assessment in phase II/III clinical trials.
Vallely
Andrew
A
National institute for Medical Research, Mwanza Centre, PO Box 1462, Mwanza, Tanzania. andrew.vallely@gmail.com
Vallely
Lisa
L
Changalucha
John
J
Greenwood
Brian
B
Chandramohan
Daniel
D
D000349:Africa; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017322:Clinical Trials, Phase II as Topic; D017326:Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004351:Drug Resistance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D011247:Pregnancy; D015597:Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic / Q000188:drug therapy*
D000962:Antimalarials