Could a Second-Line Antimalarial Treatment Benefit Patients with Ebola Virus Disease?

Patients with suspected Ebola virus disease (EVD) should receive antimalarial treatment regardless of malaria diagnosis, especially in areas where malaria is prevalent. Artemether–lumefantrine is a common first-line antimalarial treatment. Artesunate–amodiaquine is a second-line antimalarial therapy, and in vitro studies have shown that amodiaquine has activity against Ebola virus.

During an unplanned 12-day shortage of artemether–lumefantrine at an Ebola treatment center in Liberia, artesunate–amodiaquine was used as the primary antimalarial therapy, allowing for a comparison of the two 3-day antimalarial regimens. The analysis, of adults and children with EVD, involved 194 who received artemether–lumefantrine (before and after the shortage…