EFFICACY OF ARTEMETHER IN SEVERE FALCIPARUM-MALARIA IN AFRICAN CHILDREN

The clinical efficacy of intramuscular artemether was studied in 144 c hildren suffering from severe non cerebral malaria. Fifty-three childr en with chloroquine-resistant and 27 children with sulfadoxine-pyrimet hamine-resistant falciparum malaria were also studied. Greater than 95 % of pre-treatment parasitaemia was cleared by 24 h after commencement of treatment in all groups. The parasite and fever clearance times we re 35.4 +/- 8.0 and 18.6 +/- 6.3 h, respectively, in children sufferin g from severe non cerebral malaria, 36.3 +/- 7.9 and 15.6 +/- 3.8 h, r espectively, in the chloroquine-resistant and 36.8 +/- 8.8 and 16.5 +/ - 4.2 h, respectively, in the sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine-resistant grou ps. The cure rate in all groups on day 14 was 100%. Side effects follo wing treatment were minimal and comprised pain with mild tenderness at site of injection in two children and bradycardia, on the second or t hird day of treatment, in another two patients. No patient had pruritu s. These data suggest that artemether is rapidly effective in falcipar um malaria in children irrespective of previous drug treatment and esp ecially in chloroquine- or sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine-resistant infect ion and in this study was without deleterious side effects.