Antischistosomal efficacy of artesunate combination therapies administered as curative treatments for malaria attacks

• Published in: Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Vol. 101; no. 2; pp. 113 - 116
• Main Authors: Boulanger, Denis, Dieng, Yemou, Cisse, Badara, Remoue, Franck, Capuano, Frederic, Dieme, Jean-Louis, Ndiaye, Tofene, Sokhna, Cheikh, Trape, Jean-François, Greenwood, Brian, Simondon, Francois
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-02-2007; Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; Elsevier; Oxford University Press (OUP)
• Subjects: Amodiaquine - therapeutic use; Animals; Anthelmintics - therapeutic use; Antimalarials - therapeutic use; Artemisinin-based combination therapy; Artemisinins - therapeutic use; Artesunate; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Diseases caused by trematodes; Drug Combinations; Drug Therapy, Combination; Helminthic diseases; Human health and pathology; Human protozoal diseases; Humans; Infant; Infectious diseases; Life Sciences; Malaria; Malaria - complications; Malaria - drug therapy; Medical sciences; Parasitic diseases; Pilot Projects; Plasmodium falciparum; Protozoal diseases; Pyrimethamine - therapeutic use; Schistosoma haematobium; Schistosomiases; Schistosomiasis haematobia - complications; Schistosomiasis haematobia - drug therapy; Senegal; Sesquiterpenes - therapeutic use; Sulfadoxine - therapeutic use; Treatment Outcome; Senegal; Africa; Plasmodium falciparum; Schistosoma haematobium; Malaria; Senegal; Artemisinin-based combination therapy; Artesunate; Antimalarial; Protozoal disease; Anthelmintic; Trematode disease; Artemisinin; Trematoda; Schistosomiasis; Tropical medicine; Child; Human; Protozoa; Apicomplexa; Drug combination; Plathelmintha; Parasitosis; Helminthiasis; Biological activity; Infection; Helmintha; Parasiticide; Invertebrata; artesunate; combination therapy; malaria; artemisinin based
• ISSN: 0035-9203; 1878-3503
• DOI: 10.1016/j.trstmh.2006.03.003

Artesunate is a highly effective antimalarial and there is some evidence that it is also active against schistosome infections. We therefore investigated whether treatment with artesunate of acute malaria in Senegalese children had an impact on their level of infection with
Schistosoma haematobium. Twenty-seven children who were entered into a clinical trial of antimalaria treatment were excreting
S. haematobium eggs in their urine on the day of treatment. Fifteen children received a combination of a single dose of sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine together with three daily doses of artesunate (4
mg/kg); the remaining 12 children received three daily doses of amodiaquine and artesunate. The overall cure rate and reduction in the mean number of excreted eggs at 28 days post treatment were 92.6% and 94.5%, respectively. Our findings indicate that artesunate, in addition to being a very effective treatment for uncomplicated malaria, can also sharply reduce the
S. haematobium loads harboured by pre-school African children.