View clinical trials related to Malaria.
Filter by:Malaria is one of the major causes of illness and mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Ghana, malaria is the most important cause of morbidity and accounts for about 40% of outpatient contacts. Chemoprophylaxis and insecticide-impregnated bed nets are used for malaria control in pregnancy.Chloroquine is administered within the ANC package at health facilities in Ghana. However, many pregnant women in rural,low-income communities do not report for ANC or report late thereby increasing their risk of morbidity and mortality. Reasons for this include inaccessibility and high cost. As the gap between urban and rural health care and socioeconomic circumstances increase, malaria control remains the major challenge of the health sector. A facility-based intervention alone is not sufficient to have a significant or sustained impact on malaria control in pregnancy. Alternative strategies are needed for the delivery of malaria interventions to pregnant women in rural areas in Ghana. The overall objective of this study is to develop alternative strategies for community involvement for delivery of malaria interventions to pregnant women in rural Ghana. The project will be conducted in the Afigya Sekyere district in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Interviews and focus group discussions will be conducted with pregnant women and community members focusing on local knowledge on control of malaria in pregnancy and factors influencing utilization of antenatal services. Women in their first and second pregnancies who are permanently resident in the study area will be included in the study using IPT with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP). The study population will be randomized to:Group 1 will receive clinic-supervised IPT-SP and daily folate/iron supplementation and Group 2 will access IPT-SP with daily folate/iron supplementation from trained traditional birth attendants (TBA). Midwives and TBAs will be trained in preparing thick blood smears and placenta biopsies for parasitological examination. Parasitaemia and Hb will be measured at entry and at delivery and fever episodes during pregnancy will be recorded. Study participants will be followed for adverse reactions within a week after drug administration. The effectiveness of community-based IPT for the control of malaria in pregnancy will be determined. The endpoints of the study will be birth weight, maternal anaemia, fever episodes and prevalence of peripheral and placental parasitaemia in the groups.
Treatment of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Africa is increasingly difficult. Resistance to cheap efficient antimalarial drugs poses an increasing threat. The rapid emergence of resistance to sulfadoxine - pyrimethamine, already seen in East Africa is growing and is likely to have an striking impact on mortality in many other African regions where no obvious alternatives are available. WHO recommends the use of drug combinations containing artemisinin compounds, i.e., artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACT). Previous clinical trials have shown that the combination of artesunate with mefloquine is highly effective and well tolerated in the treatment of multidrug-resistant falciparum malaria, retaining the benefit of rapidity of action while augmenting cure rates, and apparently slowing the development of mefloquine resistance. Compliance with sequential combination regimen of antimalarial drugs is notoriously poor. Therefore, in order to limit the development of resistance to both drugs and ameliorate patients' compliance to antimalarial treatments, an optimal simultaneous combination regimen of artesunate and mefloquine in a practical single blister pack has been developed by Mepha Ltd. and successfully tested. The currently available
This study will assess the safety and efficacy of co-artemether in the treatment of acute uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria in returning non-immune travellers THIS STUDY IS NOT ENROLLING PATIENTS IN THE UNITED STATES
The overall objective is to evaluate the effect of exposure to Plasmodium (P.) falciparum erythrocytic stage antigens during different periods of infancy on the development of naturally acquired immunity (NAI). Hypothesis: Exposure to P. falciparum prior to 5 months of age does not result in the development of NAI, while exposure to P. falciparum after 5 months of age leads to the development of NAI. The risks of clinical malaria and anaemia during the second year of life will be compared between cohorts, as well as their correlations with the type and quality of immune responses (antibodies to several P. falciparum antigens, cytokines), oxidative stress markers and host genetic factors. These results should shed light on the determinants of the development of anti-P. falciparum responses early in life and the potential constraints to early life immunisation.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether artemether + lumefantrine is as effective as chloroquine + sulfadoxine pyrimethamine in the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria
Insecticide-impregnated bed nets and curtains (ITN) have been shown to be effective against malaria. However, given that most ITN studies were of limited length, researchers have postulated the hypothesis that in areas of intense malaria transmission and due to possible interactions with immunity development, ITN interventions may cause no effect at all or even a long-term increase in malaria morbidity and mortality. The overall objective of the trial is to analyse the long-term effects of ITN on child morbidity and mortality in an area of intense malaria transmission. The specific objective is to analyse if there is a difference in the rates of malaria morbidity and mortality as well as in all-cause mortality in children being protected with ITNs from birth compared to children protected with ITNs from age 6 months onwards. The study is conducted in the Nouna Health District, in Burkina Faso, and specifically in a sub-portion of the District under demographic surveillance since 1999. The sub-portion of the District under demographic surveillance includes a total population of 70 000 individuals, distributed in 42 villages and in the town of Nouna. The region is a dry Savannah characterised by high levels of malaria transmission. The study design entails a prospective community-based trial, with newborn children being identified at the village level and then individually randomised to receive either intervention A or intervention B. Intervention A is defined as ITN protection from age 0 to 59 months (i.e. protection from birth). Intervention B is defined as ITN protection from age 6 to 59 months (i.e. protection from 6 months onwards). Enrollment in the study cohort in continued until the sample size is reached (n = 2 600, 1 300 group A and 1 300 group B). Detailed data on morbidity is collected through means of a prospective follow up on a sub-sample of 420 children from 6 sentinel villages (210 from group A and 210 from group B). These 420 children are visited daily by field workers who measure their temperature. In case of fever, field workers take a blood sample through finger prick to be analysed for malaria parasitaemia. Treatment free of charge is organised for all children in this subsample. In addition, these children are visited twice a year for the collection of clinical (malaria episodes, anaemia) and parasitological (rates of malaria parasitaemia, parasite density) parameters. Data collection on this subsample of children is meant to last from June 2000 to December 2003. For study purposes, falciparum malaria is defined as 37.5 C or more plus at least 5 000 parasites per micro-litre. All-cause mortality in the overall study sample (2 600 children) are ascertained through means of a demographic surveillance system (DSS), which regularly monitors deaths (as well as births and migration) in the region. The causes of death are identified through means of verbal autopsy. All children enrolled in the study are followed up through means of the DSS from birth up to 5 years of age. The primary study outcome will be the five-year all-cause mortality in the total number of children enrolled in the study (2 600). Secondary outcomes will be the study of malaria-specific mortality, clinical parameters, and parasitological parameters in a sub-sample of the study cohort (420).
This trial is currently evaluating one candidate malaria vaccine, FMP1/AS02A. This candidate malaria vaccine is being developed for the routine immunization of infants and children living in malaria-endemic areas. This vaccine would offer protection against malaria disease due to the parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Prior to the start of this study, FMP1/AS02A had been given to approximately 60 malaria-naïve adults and 40 adults and 90 children living in malaria-endemic regions. This study will investigate whether the candidate vaccine prevents malaria disease for 6 months post-vaccination. One half of the enrolled subjects will receive FMP1/AS02A and the other half rabies vaccine (RabAvert).
Some antibiotics are also effective against malaria parasites. Fosmidomycin is an antibiotic that has been shown to be effective against malaria, although it cannot achieve a total cure in all patients. A previous small study has shown that in combination with clindamycin, an commonly used antibiotic, it is highly effective and safe, in asymptomatic carriers of malaria parasites. The current study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of the combination given for three days in children with uncomplicated malaria in Gabon.
The overall objective of the project is to contribute to an increased knowledge about the effect of praziquantel on schistosomiasis related morbidity and re-infection level among communities living along Lake Victoria in Mayuge district, Uganda with the overall aim of improving the strategies for morbidity control. The study will be carried out in a high transmission area along Lake Victoria, in Mayuge district. It will be a randomised intervention study, comparing a single praziquantel treatment (40mg/kg) with two standard doses administered two weeks apart.
There is a necessity for the development of new malaria drugs. Some antibiotics are also effective against malaria parasites. Fosmidomycin is an antibiotic that has been shown to be effective against malaria, although it cannot achieve a total cure in all patients. Previous small studies have shown that in combination with clindamycin, an commonly used antibiotic, it is highly effective and safe when given for three days, leading to a total cure in most patients. The current study will evaluate its efficacy in a larger population in Gabon, and compare its effect with the generally used drug, sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine.