Conditions: Malaria
Allocation: NA | Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Enrollment: 79
Healthy volunteers: yes

Brief summary:
This is an in vivo evaluation of drug efficacy performed in Cruzeiro do Sul, in the state of Acre, Brazil. A total of 81 participants ≥5 years old with parasitological confirmation of P. falciparum monoinfection will be treated under supervision with artemether-lumefantrine for three days, with doses according to the Brazilian guidelines for malaria control. The clinical and parasitological parameters will be monitored for a 28-day follow-up period to evaluate the efficacy of the combination therapy. A blood sample will be collected on filter paper on the first day and on the day of suspected failure to try to differentiate the parasite genotypes using techniques based on polymerase chain reactions. The results of this efficacy evaluation on the drug combination will help the Brazilian Ministry of Health to evaluate the national policy for treatment of malaria caused by P. falciparum.

Detailed description:
This protocol uses the recommended World Health Organization (WHO) protocol for monitoring antimalarial efficacy. Patients with malaria will receive supervised therapy and will be monitored for 28 days to check for treatment response, both clinically and parasitologically. A total of 81 participants ≥5 years old with parasitological confirmation of P. falciparum monoinfection will be treated under supervision with artemether-lumefantrine for three days, with doses according to the Brazilian guidelines for malaria control. The clinical and parasitological parameters will be monitored for a 28-day follow-up period to evaluate the efficacy of the combination therapy. Patients will be asked to come back on Days 2, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 for clinical evaluation and blood tests using microscopy. A blood sample will be collected on filter paper on the first day and on the day of suspected failure to try to differentiate the parasite genotypes using techniques based on polymerase chain reactions, this will allow us to determine if the recurrent infection was reinfection or failure or recrudescence. Results of this evaluation will guide treatment policies in Brazil.

Arms:
arm 1: Three days of standard treatment. This is a standard combination therapy for the treatment of P. falciparum malaria.

Interventions: intervention 1: Artemether-lumefantrine combination
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: This is the sole arm in this study and it is the use of the standard combination therapy for treatment of P. falciparum malaria.

Protocol document: