Therapeutic efficacy of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, amodiaquine and the sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine-amodiaquine combination against uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in young children in Cameroon.

Methods In a randomized study we evaluated the effectiveness and tolerance of (i) sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine (SP) (25 mg/kg body weight of sulfadoxine and 1.25 mg/kg of pyrimethamine in a single oral dose), (ii) amodiaquine (AQ) (30 mg/kg body weight in three divided daily doses), and (iii) the sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine–amodiaquine combination (SP+AQ) (same doses as in the other two treatment group [...] The parasitological and clinical responses were studied until day 28 in accordance with the modified 1996 WHO protocol for the evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy of antimalarial drugs. [...] Malaria transmission is intense and continuous Because of the high prevalence of chloroquine-resistant throughout the year in the area. [...] Adequate clinical response refers the number of asexual parasites per ml of blood by assuming a to one of two conditions in patients for whom the 14-day mean normal leukocyte count of 8000/ml of blood. [...] In our study the clinical response was monitored day 28; three of these additional patients were from the SP 540 Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2002, 80 (7) Therapeutic efficacy of various drugs against P. falciparum in Cameroon group, two were from the AQ group, and three were from the Table 1. Pretreatment clinical and laboratory characteristics SP+AQ group.