Rectal Artesunate Before Clinic Visit in Severe Malaria

In patients with severe malaria who cannot promptly receive injectable medications, prereferral rectal artesunate reduces deaths and disability.

Most malaria deaths occur in isolated rural areas, where prompt parenteral treatment is unavailable. Might delivery of initial therapy with rectal artesunate, which provides parasiticidal blood levels within 10 to 20 minutes, reduce mortality and improve outcome? To find out, researchers conducted a community-based trial in rural villages in Ghana, Tanzania, and Bangladesh.

Patients with suspected severe malaria who could not take oral medications and for whom parenteral therapy was unavailable locally were randomized to receive rectal artesunate or placebo and were instructed to obtain further care at a regional health facility. The African sites included only children aged 6 to 72 months; the Asian site also included older patients. Patien…

Reviewing Author

Mary E. Wilson, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardOneHealthTrust (formerly Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics, and Policy); Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsJournal of Travel Medicine

Mary E. Wilson, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardOneHealthTrust (formerly Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics, and Policy); Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsJournal of Travel Medicine