title: Surveillance of the efficacy of artemether-lumefantrine and artesunate-amodiaquine for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum among children under five in Togo, 2005-2009.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Malaria remains a major public health problem in Togo. The national malaria control programme in Togo changed the anti-malarial treatment policy from monotherapy to artemisinin combination therapy in 2004. This study reports the results of therapeutic efficacy studies conducted on artemether-lumefantrine and artesunate-amodiaquine for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Togo, between 2005 and 2009.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children between 6 and 59 months of age, who were symptomatically infected with P. falciparum, were treated with either artemether-lumefantrine or artesunate-amodiaquine. The primary end-point was the 28-day cure rate, PCR-corrected for reinfection and recrudescence. Studies were conducted according to the standardized WHO protocol for the assessment of the efficacy of anti-malarial treatment. Differences between categorical data were compared using the chi-square test or the Fisher's exact test where cell counts were ≤ 5. Differences in continuous data were compared using a t-test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 16 studies were conducted in five sentinel sites, with 459, 505 and 332 children included in 2005, 2007 and 2009, respectively. The PCR-corrected 28-day cure rates using the per-protocol analysis were between 96%-100% for artemether-lumefantrine and 94%-100% for artesunate-amodiaquine.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both formulations of artemisinin-based combination therapy were effective over time and no severe adverse events related to the treatment were reported during the studies.
authors.affiliation: Faculté Mixte de Médecine et de Pharmacie, Université de Lomé, Lomé, BP1515, Togo. monicadork@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: Monique A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Dorkenoo
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barrette
authors.forename: Yao M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Agbo
authors.forename: Hervé
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bogreau
authors.forename: Séenam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kutoati
authors.forename: Yao K
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Sodahlon
authors.forename: Kodjo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morgah
mesh_terms: D000655:Amodiaquine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000077611:Artemether, Lumefantrine Drug Combination; D037621:Artemisinins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004983:Ethanolamines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D005449:Fluorenes / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000469:parasitology; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014037:Togo; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000962:Antimalarials; D000077611:Artemether, Lumefantrine Drug Combination; D037621:Artemisinins; D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004983:Ethanolamines; D005449:Fluorenes; C515299:amodiaquine, artesunate drug combination; D000655:Amodiaquine