There are about 340 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Malawi. The country of the clinical trial is determined by the location of where the clinical research is being studied. Most studies are often held in multiple locations & countries.
Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine is the current first-line therapy for uncomplicated malaria in Malawi. Significant resistance of the P. falciparum malaria parasite to this drug has led to an imminent need for the government of Malawi to identify a new first-line therapy for uncomplicated malaria and to implement that new therapy as policy. This protocol is the second of two protocols whose combined purpose is to provide efficacy and side effect data on four antimalarial drug combinations that are candidates for the next first-line therapy for uncomplicated malaria in Malawi. This protocol aims to assess the acceptability and tolerability of amodiaquine in Malawi. It is a double-blind study comparing amodiaquine plus artesunate (AQ-Art, one of the candidate combination therapies) to chlorproguanil/dapsone plus artesunate (CD-Art, another of the candidate combination therapies) in persons 5 years and older, to see if there is a higher incidence of abdominal pain and/or refusal to take the therapy in the AQ-Art group. Amodiaquine was removed from the Malawian national drug registry in 1995 because of a perceived association with abdominal pain. Although no studies were conducted to substantiate this, consensus among clinicians was that patients were refusing amodiaquine with increasing frequency, citing abdominal pain as the reason, so the drug was removed from the registry. Results from this study, along with the efficacy data from the sister protocol in children under five years of age, will help guide the National Malaria Control Program of Malawi in selecting their next first-line antimalarial therapy.
The purpose of this study is to examine whether treatment of pregnant Malawian women with repeated doses of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and azithromycin antibiotics will prevent preterm deliveries and result in other health benefits both for the mother and the foetus/newborn.
This study tests the hypothesis that underweight 6-17-month old infants receiving fortified spread as a food supplement for 12 weeks grow better during the supplementation than infants who are provided with maize-soy flour supplement.
This study tests the hypothesis that infants receiving fortified spread as a complementary food for one year grow better and do not become malnourished as often as infants who are provided with maize-soy flour for complementary porridge.
In resource constrained societies and where HIV is a problem, oral thrush causes significant morbidity. In adults, ketoconazole is used and sometimes oral nystatin. Both drugs are relatively expensive compared to GV solution and ketoconazole has significant side effects especially in association with some of the treatments for HIV related problems. In children, either GV solutions or nystatin are used, GV is a fraction of the cost of nystatin. GV at 1% solution discolours the mouth (blue) and in the older child and adult would mark them out as having HIV infections. A much more dilute solution of GV has proved equally effective in vitro and would not carry the same cosmetic problem. In this study of children, the investigators have compared the 3 solutions, 1% GV, 0.00165% GV and nystatin oral drops - all masked so that they look the same - to see if GV is more effective than nystatin, and to see if the weaker solution of GV is as effective as the stronger solution.
In Malawi, the standard of care to prevent malaria during pregnancy at the time of the study was a two dose sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine intermittent protective treatment (SP IPT) regimen administered in the second and third trimester of pregnancy. In this investigation, this two dose strategy was compared to a monthly SP regimen. The objective for the study was to determine the efficacy of the different regimens for HIV positive and HIV negative women in the prevention of placental malaria.
The purpose of this research study is to find out how well chloroquine works as a drug to treat malaria in children, compared to the standard malaria treatment in Malawi. In preparation for a longer study of the malaria treatment medication chloroquine alone and in combination with other drugs, a shorter pre-study will be done to compare the anti-malarial effectiveness of chloroquine versus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), the standard treatment in Malawi. Two hundred ten children, ages 6 months to 12 years, around Blantyre, Malawi, will be given standard dosing of either chloroquine or SP when they come to the Ndirande Health Centre with signs or symptoms consistent with malaria. The first 30 participants in each treatment group will remain under continuous observation at the health center so that the researchers can monitor their response to the medication until the infection goes away. The participants will be followed for 28 days to see if the the treatment works or fails.
This Phase 2a study involving Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate (TDF) will provide extended safety data for high-risk men. Secondarily, the study will assess the feasibility of conducting the trial and evaluate the preliminary effectiveness of TDF 300 mg as an HIV prevention method when taken once a day.
To prevent mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV in resource-limited countries, a simple yet effective treatment plan is needed. Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) is an anti-HIV drug approved for use in the United States for the treatment of HIV infected adults. The purpose of this study is to determine the safety, tolerability, and blood levels of TDF in HIV infected pregnant women and their babies. The study will be conducted at sites in Malawi and Brazil.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate intranasal lorazepam in paediatric status epilepticus. This is a potentially, more effective, safer and cheaper treatment for a common paediatric medical emergency compared to our present first line therapy intramuscular paraldehyde.