Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPTi) for the Prevention of Malaria and Anaemia in PNG Infants
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2010-05-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
In malaria-endemic areas, young children have an especially high risk of malaria morbidity
and mortality. Malaria is estimated to cause up to 2 million deaths and 500 million clinical
episodes in Africa alone. The bulk of disease in Africa and severe disease and deaths
globally is due to P. falciparum. However, P. vivax is also responsible for a substantial
disease burden in endemic regions outside Africa, where P. vivax may account for more than
half of all malaria cases. Efforts to reduce this unacceptably high disease burden are
hampered by the limited availability of affordable interventions. Following the cessation of
large-scale vector control in highly endemic areas, malaria control efforts have centred on
early diagnosis and treatment of clinical cases and reducing exposure through the use of
insecticide-treated nets (ITNs). While ITNs have been shown to significantly reduce the
burden of malaria additional effective interventions are urgently needed.
Several trials have shown that chemoprophylaxis given to children at weekly or fortnightly
intervals reduces morbidity from malaria in a number of different settings and populations.
An alternative approach has been to use intermittent preventive therapy (IPT) involving the
administration of a full therapeutic dose of antimalarials at regular intervals. This is
logistically easier to deliver, and is less costly, and may reduce problems of promoting drug
resistance associated with regular chemoprophylaxis. Intermittent administration of
sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) during antenatal clinic visits was shown to be highly
effective in reducing malaria and anaemia in pregnant women and improving infant birth
weights. IPT in pregnancy (IPTp) is now recommended by WHO for endemic regions of Africa.
Phase:
N/A
Details
Lead Sponsor:
Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research
Collaborators:
Case Western Reserve University University of Melbourne
Treatments:
Amodiaquine Artemisinins Artesunate Fanasil, pyrimethamine drug combination Pyrimethamine Sulfadoxine