The antischistosomal efficacies of artesunate-sulfamethoxypyrazine-pyrimethamine and artemether-lumefantrine administered as treatment for uncomplicated, Plasmodium falciparum malaria.
Although artemisinin and its derivatives are widely used for the treatment of malaria, they also have antischistosomal activity. In a small study in eastern Sudan, the effects of the treatment of uncomplicated, Plasmodium falciparum malaria with artesunate-sulfamethoxypyrazine-pyrimethamine (AS-SMP) and artemether-lumefantrine (AT-LU) on co-infections with Schistosoma mansoni were therefore investigated. Faecal samples from 14 of the 306 patients screened on presentation, at the start of a clinical trial of antimalarial treatment, were found to contain Schistosoma mansoni eggs. For the treatment of their malaria, the 14 egg-positive cases, who were aged 6-40 years (mean = 13.7 years), were each subsequently treated with three tablets of a fixed combination of AS-SMP, with a 12-h (six patients) or 24-h interval (five patients) between each tablet, or with six doses of AT-LU given over 3 days. When checked 28 and 29 days after the initiation of treatment, all 14 patients were found stool-negative for schistosome eggs. These results indicate that AS-SMP and AT-LU are currently very effective treatments not only for uncomplicated, P. falciparum malaria but also for S. mansoni infections.
Adam
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Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, P.O. Box 102, Khartoum, Sudan. ishagadam@hotmail.com
Elhardello
O A
OA
Elhadi
M O
MO
Abdalla
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E
Elmardi
K A
KA
Jansen
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FH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000077611:Artemether, Lumefantrine Drug Combination; D037621:Artemisinins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000077332:Artesunate; D002648:Child; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D004983:Ethanolamines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005243:Feces; D005449:Fluorenes / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010270:Parasite Egg Count; D011739:Pyrimethamine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012550:Schistosoma mansoni / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000469:parasitology; D012555:Schistosomiasis mansoni / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012556:Schistosomicides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012717:Sesquiterpenes / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013397:Sudan; D013415:Sulfalene / Q000627:therapeutic use
D000962:Antimalarials; D000077611:Artemether, Lumefantrine Drug Combination; D037621:Artemisinins; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004983:Ethanolamines; D005449:Fluorenes; D012556:Schistosomicides; D012717:Sesquiterpenes; D000077332:Artesunate; D013415:Sulfalene; D011739:Pyrimethamine