Malaria syrup for children becoming less effective
Resistance is growing against the strongest treatment for children with malaria in Kenya, reports the journal of Infectious Tropical Diseases.
The fixed dosed Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACT) syrup is regarded as the most effective paediatric drug.
Another study shows growing resistance of malaria parasites in western Cambodia to arteminisinin-based pesticides. Research in last month’s edition of New England Journal of Medicine confirms that it takes longer to clear the parasites in the blood of Cambodian patients.
In the new study, researchers studied 40 patients in western Cambodia and north-western Thailand. While it took 48 hours for the parasite to be cleared from Thai patients, clearance took 84 hours in the Cambodian patients the study showed. Infection recurrence rates were also higher in the Cambodian patients.
Its not 100 per cent resistance, but the parasites are much less sensitive or partly resistant,” lead author Arjen M Dondorp told scidev.net, an online publication on science and development. “That is very worrying because that is the big step to complete resistance.
The WHO essential medicines list is predominantly for adults. “Children cannot be treated as little adults when it comes to medicines, says Dr J L Amugada, a leading Nairobi paediatrician. Paediatric formulation are prepared according to the body weight of the child-patient and it guarantees better therapy fidelity.
Published on the Standard on 13/08/2009 By Dann Okoth
