We read with interest the article by Bélard et al1 on intravenous artesunate (ivA) use for imported severe malaria in children. IvA was a highly efficacious treatment in this cohort of children, treated outside malaria-endemic region.
As chloroquine (CHQ) is part of the Dutch Centre for Infectious Disease Control coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) experimental treatment guideline, pediatric dosing guidelines are needed. Recent pediatric data suggest that existing World Health Organization (WHO) dosing guidelines for children with malaria are suboptimal. The aim of our study was to establish best-evidence to inform pediatric CHQ doses for children infected with COVID-19. A previously developed physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model for CHQ was used to simulate exposure in adults and children and verified against published pharmacokinetic data.
Naturally acquired immunity to Plasmodium falciparum malaria is thought to be non-sterile and sustained by persistence of low level parasitaemia. This study assessed the association between baseline microscopic and submicroscopic asymptomatic P. falciparum infections and anti-malarial antibody levels and whether these parasitaemia modify protective associations between antibody levels and malaria in Ghanaian children.
Primaquine is still the first-line drug to eliminate hypnozoites of Plasmodium vivax. The therapeutic efficacy is related to the total dose administered. In several endemic areas, the drug is administered for children in an age-based regimen, which can lead to inadequate exposure, increasing the rates of recurrence of the infection. The present study aims to describe the mg/kg total dose of primaquine administered to children for treatment for vivax malaria when an age-based regimen is used and to measure the plasma concentrations of primaquine and carboxyprimaquine.
Genetic modifiers of anemia in Plasmodium falciparum infection and sickle cell disease (SCD) are not fully known. Both conditions are associated with oxidative stress, hemolysis and anemia. CYB5R3 encodes cytochrome b5 reductase 3, which converts methemoglobin to hemoglobin through oxidation of NADH. CYB5R3c.350C>G , the most frequent recognized African-specific polymorphism, does not have known functional significance, but its high allele frequency (23% in African-Americans) suggests a selection advantage.
In the absence of microscopy, Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich proteins 2 (PfHRP2)-based rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are recommended for the diagnosis of falciparum malaria, particularly in endemic regions. However, genetic variability of the pfhrp2 gene threatens the usefulness of the test due to its impact on RDT sensitivity. This study aimed to investigate the diversity of pfhrp2 in malaria cases among children in Ghana.
Microvascular thrombosis and blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown are key components of cerebral malaria (CM) pathogenesis in African children and are implicated in fatal brain swelling. How Plasmodium falciparum infection causes this endothelial disruption and why this occurs, particularly in the brain, is not fully understood. In this study, we have demonstrated that circulating extracellular histones, equally of host and parasite origin, are significantly elevated in CM patients. Higher histone levels are associated with brain swelling on magnetic resonance imaging.
Genetic diversity of ABO blood, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency and haemoglobin type and their ability to protect against malaria vary geographically, ethnically and racially. No study has been carried out in populations resident in malaria regions in western Kenya.
Prediction of adverse outcomes in cerebral malaria (CM) is difficult. We hypothesized that cell-free DNA (cfDNA) levels would facilitate identification of severe and potentially fatal CM cases.
Malaria transmission has recently fallen in many parts of Africa, but systematic descriptions of infection and disease across all age groups are rare. Here, an epidemiological investigation of parasite prevalence, the incidence of fevers associated with infection, severe hospitalized disease and mortality among children older than 6 months and adults on the Kenyan coast is presented.
