Artemether-Lumefantrine for the Treatment of Malaria in Infants and Children
Artemether-Lumefantrine for the Treatment of Malaria in Infants and Children
Malaria remains a significant medical burden in many parts of the world. It is responsible for approximately 1 million deaths per year, mostly in infants and children. The availability of artemisinin-based compounds, derived from the Chinese plant Artemisia annua, during the past decade has introduced a new era in the treatment of this disease. Effective and well tolerated, these drugs appear to offer substantial benefits over traditional agents such as chloroquine or sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACT) are recommended as first-line therapy for malaria by the World Health Organization (WHO) and have been accepted as a mainstay of treatment in more than 70 countries.
A combination of artemether and lumefantrine recently became the first ACT to be made available in the United States. Initially introduced in 1999, it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on April 7, 2009 for the treatment of infants, children, and adults with acute Plasmodium falciparum infections. This issue of Pediatric Pharmacotherapy will review the pharmacology of the artemether-lumefantrine combination and describe recent studies of its use in infants and children.
Abstract and Introduction
Introduction
Malaria remains a significant medical burden in many parts of the world. It is responsible for approximately 1 million deaths per year, mostly in infants and children. The availability of artemisinin-based compounds, derived from the Chinese plant Artemisia annua, during the past decade has introduced a new era in the treatment of this disease. Effective and well tolerated, these drugs appear to offer substantial benefits over traditional agents such as chloroquine or sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACT) are recommended as first-line therapy for malaria by the World Health Organization (WHO) and have been accepted as a mainstay of treatment in more than 70 countries.
A combination of artemether and lumefantrine recently became the first ACT to be made available in the United States. Initially introduced in 1999, it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on April 7, 2009 for the treatment of infants, children, and adults with acute Plasmodium falciparum infections. This issue of Pediatric Pharmacotherapy will review the pharmacology of the artemether-lumefantrine combination and describe recent studies of its use in infants and children.