Background: Malaria is a major cause of pediatric mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Worldwide estimates of mortality among children with Plasmodium falciparum malaria range from 1 to 2 million deaths per year. Management of malaria is increasingly difficult because of the global spread of drug-resistant strains of P. falciparum. There is an urgent need for safe and effective new therapies to treat multidrug-resistant malaria.
Methods: This open label, randomized trial compared atovaquone and proguanil hydrochloride with halofantrine for treatment of acute, uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria in children age 3 to 12 years (84 patients per group). Study drug dosages were adjusted by weight (approximately 20 and 8 mg/kg daily for three doses for atovaquone and proguanil hydrochloride and 8 mg/kg every 6 h for three doses for halofantrine). Patients were monitored by serial clinical and laboratory assessments for 28 days after starting treatment.
Results: Both regimens were effective (cure rate, 93.8% for atovaquone and proguanil hydrochloride and 90.4% for halofantrine) and produced prompt defervescence. Mean parasite clearance times were 50.2 h for halofantrine and 64.9 h for atovaquone and proguanil hydrochloride. More adverse experiences were reported in children treated with halofantrine (119) than with atovaquone and proguanil hydrochloride (73).
Conclusions: In Kenyan children the combination of atovaquone and proguanil hydrochloride has efficacy comparable with that of halofantrine for treatment of acute uncomplicated multidrug-resistant falciparum malaria and is associated with a lower rate of adverse events.