Active clinical trials for "Malaria"

Intravenous artesunate is highly effective with rapid schizonticidal action and improved clinical outcome

It is generally agreed that artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is the malaria therapy of choice but there is much less agreement about the best ACT-deployment strategies. Countries are now beginning to adopt policies to enhance ACT deployment that aim to address 2 key goals: (i) making ACTs more readily and speedily accessible to patients: or (ii) targeting ACTs to patients shown to have malaria parasitaemia. The Tanzanian Government has secured funding to address both ACT access and targeting on a national scale. Access is to be improved through the distribution of subsidised ACTs through private facilities and retail drug shops under the Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria (AMFm). Targeting is to be addressed through enhancing microscopy and introducing rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) in health facilities at every level of the system. This study will evaluate these two interventions in 3 rural regions of Tanzania which are all expected to receive both interventions during the study period. The investigators will assess the effectiveness of the interventions in terms of coverage, equity, quality, adherence, and public health impact using a pre-post plausibility design based on before and after household, health facility and outlet surveys. The null hypothesis is that the interventions will have no impact on the coverage of prompt effective treatment for fever and malarial. In addition, the investigators will estimate the cost and cost-effectiveness of implementation from a health system and household perspective. Finally the investigators will explore the socio-cultural context and other factors that influence the implementation and outcome of the interventions.

WHO recommends the use of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) in the treatment of uncomplicated malaria to stem falciparum malaria drug resistance. New ACTs are entering the African market and will be used by the public health care system. The collection of safety data and risk evaluation through observational data are critical in order to assess risk/benefit profile of each ACT through its life cycle and providing information on the best use. Additionally there is need to assess the impact of the introduction of a new ACT in the evolution of its efficacy and malaria morbidity and mortality. Dihydroartemisinin/Piperaquine (DHA/PQP) is a new ACT approved by European Medical Agency and a number of African countries. This is a phase IV observational evaluation of the clinical safety of the fixed-dose DHA/PQP (Eurartesim®) in public health facilities within selected Health and Demographic Surveillance Centres in Burkina Faso (Nouna), Mozambique (Manhica), Ghana (Dodowa, Kintampo, Navrongo), Tanzania (Rufiji) and other African countries to be added. Eurartesim® will be used as first-line treatment of uncomplicated malaria an objective to evaluate the safety of Eurartesim® when used under usual conditions in 10,000 patients. Patients > 6 months and 5 kg except pregnant women will be enrolled and Eurartesim® administered as a single daily dose regimen over 3 days. Patients will be contacted at Day 5 (± 2 days) after treatment, to assess recovery and any adverse events.

This research investigates the diagnostic accuracy of various diagnostic approaches for malaria and pneumonia in under-five children presenting to primary healthcare centres in Benin City, Nigeria.

Malaria is a parasitic disease causing substantial morbidity and mortality globally. Malaria is a potentially severe and fatal disease in non-immune individuals. In areas of intense transmission infections individuals acquired immunity that protect against clinical disease. Nonetheless, immunity is not regarding sterilizing and repeated infections often result in an asymptomatic carriage of malaria parasites. These chronic apparently asymptomatic infections have been associated with anemia, cognitive dysfunction and adverse events during pregnancy. Global migration has increased over the last decade and has resulted in an increasing number of migrants from malaria endemic regions arriving in non-endemic countries. Migrants from malaria endemic countries may carry asymptomatic infections with malaria parasites, as well as other parasitic infections such as strongyloides and schistosomiasis, with a possible negative impact on health in this group. The prevalence of asymptomatic malaria and other parasites is not fully elucidated in migrants from different regions. Moreover, the longevity of asymptomatic carriage of malaria parasites in absence of re-exposure is not known. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of malaria parasites and other parasitic infections in migrants in Sweden, both newly arrived and migrants with longer residency, and intend to evaluate the need for screening for various parasitic infections in migrants arriving in Sweden. Moreover, this study will also assess antibody responses to malaria and other parasitic diseases.

This study seeks to determine whether screening pregnant women for malaria with malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) may detect placental infection and predict risk of poor birth outcomes due to malaria in areas of varied malaria transmission in Africa.

The present study is planned to be conducted at a district level women and children's hospital at Nagpur with the following objectives: Objectives: i) To assess the prevalence of asymptomatic malaria infection with all four species of malarial parasites namely P. falciparum, P. malariae, P. ovale and P. vivax during the first/second trimester of pregnancy among women attending the antenatal clinic at a secondary level urban health facility using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) for malaria parasites. ii) To determine the effect of malaria on duration of pregnancy, adverse outcomes and birth outcomes at delivery

Malaria in pregnancy (MiP) continues to be a significant public health issue, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The coverage of pregnant women with three or more doses of intermittent preventive treatment using sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP) is recommended to prevent risks associated with MiP in moderate-to-high transmission settings. Evidence has recently become available supporting the emergence of a novel Pfdhps-431V mutation in Nigeria. This new mutation may further confound the existing SP-resistance; thus, the intended follow-on project aims to assess the influence of Pfdhps-431V mutation on the protective efficacy of SP during pregnancy. The aims are to detect P. falciparum positivity at delivery and pregnancy outcome in participants who must have received three or more doses of IPTp_SP. We will attempt to check the presence of existing and new Pfdhps/Pfdhfr mutations in the samples positive for P. falciparum using a quantitative PCR (qPCR). The prevalence of novel Pfdhps-431V mutant and other Pfdhps/Pfdhfr resistance alleles among the study population will be estimated. The significance of the resistance genes on the efficacy of SP will be described by looking at its associations with the reported IPTp use, P. falciparum infection, maternal anaemia, low birth weight, and preterm delivery.

This research is intended to study the efficacy of CQ alone for P.vivax infection and also to study the recurrence rate among patients with P.vivax on standard dose of CQ and PQ. For this study, PQ will be withheld for 28 days so as to study the efficacy of CQ alone since masking effect over one another was found when CQ is given with PQ. So the investigators are not sure whether the recurrence is due to resistance to CQ or CQ concentration in blood is below therapeutic level or it is due to PQ is in inadequate dose. From this study the investigators will get findings like may be CQ is still working for P.vivax or no longer working for P.vivax due to resistance developed by P.vivax parasites. So for P.vivax which is not responding to CQ therapy, the investigators will go for second line treatment with ACT in a similar fashion as it is given for P. falciparum infection in Bhutan. And if the investigators find CQ is still working for P.vivax infection, the next level of study will be to compare higher dose of PQ with standard dose of PQ ( as practiced now) in lieu of bringing down the relapse rates in P. vivax infection.

Malaria is one of the leading causes of deaths in children below five years old. Despite antimalarial drugs and insecticide treated bed nets, the established means of treatment and protection, malaria still continues to affect many children. A malaria vaccine would be a very effective way of reducing malaria infection in the community. RTS,S/AS01E is a leading malaria vaccine candidate which is being developed for children in Africa. The investigators have done a study to find out if this vaccine is effective in reducing infection by malaria in children aged 5-17 months living in Kenya and Tanzania. The follow up of the original study was 14-18 months. The extended follow up is proposed to continue for another four years.