Active clinical trials for "Malaria"

While World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines recommend empirical antibacterial therapy as the standard of care in all African children with severe falciparum malaria, there are fewer data to guide the management of adults with the disease in low transmission settings. Presently WHO guidelines do not recommend empirical antibacterial therapy in adults with malaria in low transmission settings, instead antibacterial therapy is only clearly recommended in those patients in whom a serious bacterial co-infection is clinically suspected. However, in a pilot study in Myanmar (High Frequency of Clinically Significant Bacteremia in Adults Hospitalized With Falciparum Malaria PMID: 26989752) we found that 13% of adults hospitalized with falciparum malaria were bacteremic, with bacterial co-infection suspected by clinicians in the minority. Patients with serious bacterial infection are commonly not bacteraemic and so this probably underestimates the frequency of significant bacterial co-infection. In that pilot study, over 75% of patients received empirical antibacterial therapy on admission to hospital, which would not accord with published WHO guidelines as clinicians suspected bacterial co-infection in only 17%. However, the study's 100% survival rate - when over half of the patients were at high risk of death - suggests that the administration of antibacterial therapy may be appropriate until bacterial co-infection is excluded. There is also academic debate about the role of co-morbidities in the presentation of patients severely ill with vivax malaria. Bacterial co-infection has been reported in some - but by no means all - studies of severe vivax infection. It would be useful to determine the relative contribution of bacterial co-infection to the clinical presentation of patients with vivax malaria. By systematically seeking evidence of bacterial co-infection in all patients hospitalized at the study sites, this study aims to determine if the bacterial infection is really as prevalent as was the case in the pilot study. Accordingly it aims to determine the utility of a strategy that includes empirical antibacterial therapy in adults hospitalized with malaria in low transmission settings, until significant bactrila infection has been excluded.

Efficacy and safety of the artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) in uncomplicated falciparum malaria patients in Myanmar and artemisinin molecular markers analysis

The use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) has contributed to the substantial reduction in malaria cases and deaths. This progress is threatened by increasing resistance in mosquito populations to commonly used insecticides. Newly developed, next-generation ITNs using two insecticides or an insecticide synergist and an insecticide are effective against resistant mosquitoes, but large-scale uptake of these nets has been slow due to higher costs and lack of enough evidence to support broad policy recommendations. This observational study will occur alongside a pilot distribution of next-generation ITNs and collect data over three years on their entomological and epidemiological impact as well as anthropological factors that influence their uptake and use. Enhanced data collection will occur in three districts: one district that will receive Interceptor G2 ® ITN (BASF) and two comparator districts, one that will receive standard pyrethroid-only ITNs and one that will receive standard pyrethroid-only ITNs and indoor residual spraying (IRS). Data will be collected on malaria vector bionomics, disease epidemiology, and human behaviors in order to help better demonstrate the public health value of next-generation ITNs and to support donors, policymakers, and National Malaria Control Programs in their ITN decision-making and planning processes.

The use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITN) has contributed to the substantial reduction in malaria cases and deaths. This progress is threatened by increasing resistance commonly used insecticides in mosquito populations. Newly developed, next-generation ITNs using two insecticides or an insecticide synergist and an insecticide are effective against resistant mosquitoes, but large-scale uptake of these nets has been slow due to higher costs and lack of enough evidence to support broad policy recommendations. This observational study will occur alongside a pilot distribution of next-generation ITNs and collect data over three years on their entomological and epidemiological impact as well as anthropological factors that influence their uptake and use. Data collection will occur in three districts: one receiving dual-active ingredient ITNs, Interceptor® G2 (BASF), one receiving a standard pyrethroid long-lasting insecticidal net (LLIN), Interceptor® (BASF), and one receiving PermaNet®3.0 (Vestergaard) an LLIN containing an insecticide and an insecticide synergist. Data will be collected on malaria vector bionomics, disease epidemiology, and human behaviors in order to help better demonstrate the public health value of next-generation ITNs and to support donors, policymakers, and National Malaria Control Programs in their ITN decision-making and planning processes.

Many malaria deaths occur in places where people have poor access to preventive and curative health services. Prompt access to quality health services is critical in the case of severe childhood diseases, among which severe malaria is particularly frequent in endemic areas. In communities where parenteral treatment of severe malaria is not available, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends administration of a single rectal dose of artesunate (RAS) to children less than 6 years, followed by immediate referral to an appropriate facility where the full package of care for severe malaria can be provided. Many African countries have already endorsed the use of pre-referral RAS. But treatment guidelines vary widely across these countries and often do not align with the WHO recommendation. With the impending availability of quality-assured rectal artesunate (QA RAS) and countries poised to scale-up this intervention, it is critical to investigate the safe and effective implementation of RAS as part of a continuum of care for severe malaria patients. To ensure that RAS is well targeted, it is equally urgent to learn more about frequency, treatment seeking and risk factors for severe malaria at community level. The CARAMAL project has two major components: the pilot implementation of QA RAS in selected areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Nigeria and Uganda, and operational research on the introduction of QA RAS into established integrated community case management (iCCM) platforms. The CARAMAL project is funded by Unitaid and coordinated by the Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI). UNICEF is responsible for QA RAS implementation. Swiss TPH in partnership with the local research organizations Akena Associates Ltd. in Nigeria, Kinshasa School of Public Health in DRC and Makerere University School of Public Health in Uganda carries out the operational research component to generate evidence for the responsible implementation of RAS. Finally, the CARAMAL project will generate a better understanding of severe febrile illness, its management at all levels and key determinants of health outcomes.

Randomized controlled prospective comparative study

Close monitoring of malaria in pregnancy can help to quickly identify changes in malaria burden and related adverse outcomes, especially in areas embarking in malaria elimination activities. The easy access of pregnant women through antenatal clinics, combined with the potential of pregnancy-specific serology to assess cumulative exposure to malaria, can provide the basis for new sentinel surveillance methods. Such an approach has the potential to guide clinical practice and the choice of malaria control/preventive tools adapted to areas of different transmission intensity, as well as to generate sensitive metrics of transmission during malaria elimination activities.

This study assesses the effectiveness and feasibility of enhanced reactive case detection (RACD) targeting high-risk villages and forest workers for reducing Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax transmission in southern Lao Peoples Democratic Republic. The authors hypothesize that enhanced community-based RACD will be more effective than standard of care case management and RACD at reducing P. falciparum and P. vivax confirmed case incidence and parasite prevalence over an 18-month period in Lao Peoples Democratic Republic.

A systematic review assessing the role, appropriateness and benefits of the active case detection strategy, both proactive and reactive, in low malaria transmission settings. A common indication is that more studies should be carried out to optimize the ACD strategy to the local context, or to provide evidence for the adoption of improved methods. One possible improved method is the use of more accurate diagnostic tools, such as the hsRDT proposed in this study, with an increased capacity to detect lower levels of parasitemia. It can provide a timely and relevant contribution for their development of national Standard Operating Procedures for a screening tool in the reactive case detection strategy.

The aim of this study is to analyze the perceptions, representations and expe-riences of malaria prophylaxis in patients born in endemic areas and living in France. This analysis could lead to better understanding and communication between the medical profession and patients in malaria. It would also provide patient-specific responses to their expectations, as to their families.