Efficacy of sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in a small sample of Sudanese children

Abstract

A prospective clinical trial was carried out to determine in vivo efficacy of sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in children in New Halfa. Forty patients were enrolled; 31 completed the 28-day follow-up. Six [19.4%] patients showed recurrence of parasitaemia during follow-up, while the rest [80.6%] cleared the parasites and responded fully to treatment. All the failures were late treatment failures. Parasite genotyping showed that 1 [16.7%] of the 6 cases of late parasitaemia was due to reinfection while the rest [83.4%] were due to true recrudescence. During the follow-up period 22.6% of patients showed gametocytaemia. The high level of treatment failure as well as gametocytaemia necessitates the introduction of artesunate in this combination therapy