Chemoprevention Efficacy Study in Burkina Faso

"Sulphadoxine is a slowly eliminated sulphonamide. It is used in a fixed dose combination of 20 parts sulphadoxine with 1 part pyrimethamine given orally or intramuscularly.~The medicine is no longer recommended for the treatment of malaria. However, it is being used for Intermittent Preventive Treatment during pregnancy (IPTp) and as a co-packaged combination with amodiaquine for seasonal malaria chemoprevention.~Sulphadoxine is readily absorbed from the GIT. It is widely distributed in body tissues and fluids and crosses the placenta into foetal circulation. It is also readily detectable in breast milk. It is excreted predominantly as the unchanged drug."

"Amodiaquine is a Mannich base 4 amino-quinoline that interferes with parasite haem detoxification. It is more effective than chloroquine in both chloroquine sensitive and resistant P. falciparum infections. However, there is cross-resistance between chloroquine and amodiaquine.~It is readily absorbed in the GIT and rapidly converted in the liver to the active metabolite, desethylamodiaquine. Desethylamodiaquine is responsible for all the antimalarial effect. Adverse effect of amodiaquine includes abdominal discomfort and vomiting weakness and when used for prophylaxis it causes agranulocytosis. Amodiaquine is recommended as a partner drug in artemisinin based combination therapy."