Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Volume 98, Issue 9 , Pages 509-513, September 2004

Artemether in the treatment of falciparum malaria during pregnancy in eastern Sudan

  • Ishag Adam

      Affiliations

    • New Halfa Teaching Hospital, P.O. Box 61, New Halfa, Sudan
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +249-421-22101/21880; fax: +249-421-22070.
    • ,
  • Eltaib Elwasila

      Affiliations

    • New Halfa Teaching Hospital, P.O. Box 61, New Halfa, Sudan
    • ,
  • Daw Alnour Mohammed Ali

      Affiliations

    • New Halfa Teaching Hospital, P.O. Box 61, New Halfa, Sudan
    • ,
  • Elhassan Elansari

      Affiliations

    • Faculty of Medicine, University of Kassalla, Kassalla, Sudan
    • ,
  • Mustafa Idris Elbashir

      Affiliations

    • Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan

Received 29 July 2003; received in revised form 30 October 2003; accepted 12 November 2003.

Abstract 

This study was carried in New Halfa Hospital, eastern Sudan from October 1997 to February 2001. Twenty-eight pregnant Sudanese women infected with Plasmodium falciparum were treated with intramuscular artemether (six injections, 480mg) after failure of chloroquine and quinine therapy. The patients were followed-up until delivery; the babies were followed-up until the age of 1 year. Artemether was given to one patient in the tenth week of gestation, to 12 during the second trimester, and to 15 during the third trimester. It was well tolerated, the parasitaemia was cleared and the patients were symptom-free within three days. One patient (3.5%) delivered at 32 weeks and the baby died six hours after delivery. The other 27 (96.5%) delivered full-term live babies. None of the pregnant women died and there was no abortion, stillbirth or congenital abnormalities in the newborn babies.

Keywords:  Falciparum malaria, Pregnancy, Artemether, Neonates, Sudan

To access this article, please choose from the options below

Login to an existing account or Register a new account.

  • Purchase this article for 31.50 USD (You must login/register to purchase this article)

    Online access for 24 hours. The PDF version can be downloaded as your permanent record.

  • Subscribe to this title

    Get unlimited online access to this article and all other articles in this title 24/7 for one year.

  • Claim access now

    For current subscribers with Society Membership or Account Number.

  • Visit SciVerse ScienceDirect to see if you have access via your institution.
 

PII: S0035-9203(04)00080-X

doi:10.1016/j.trstmh.2003.11.008

Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Volume 98, Issue 9 , Pages 509-513, September 2004

Article Tools