Treatment Efficacy and Malaria TRANSmission After Artemisinin Combination Therapy 2 (TRANSACT2) (TRANSACT2)

Artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) with artemether lumefantrine (AL) is currently the first line treatment policy in Kenya. AL is an efficacious drug that also has the capacity to reduce malaria transmission to mosquitoes. Nevertheless, there is concern about the development of parasite resistance against AL. Clinical trials in Asia showed that mefloquine-artesunate (MQ-AS) may be more efficacious than AL and may have a more pronounced beneficial effect on post-treatment malaria transmission. MQ-AS is registered and used in Kenya but there have been no reported direct comparisons of AL and MQ-AS with clinical and transmission endpoints (i.e. adequately clearing parasites and preventing transmission to mosquitoes).

Screening for molecular markers that are related to parasite susceptibility to ACT drugs and to post-ACT treatment malaria transmission can assist strategies to prevent the development and spread of ACT resistance.

In the current study, we compare AL and MQ-AS for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria. Our endpoints are i) clinical efficacy, ii) post-treatment gametocytaemia by molecular techniques.

In the current study, the investigators compare AL and MQ-AS for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria. The investigators endpoints are

clinical efficacy post-treatment gametocytaemia by molecular techniques

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Accurate diagnosis followed by prompt and efficacious treatment is the backbone of any malaria control programme. However, malaria treatment has been facing huge challenges in recent years. A number of affordable antimalarial drugs have been used to cure malaria since the 1940s: these include chloroquine (CQ), sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP; Fansidar®), mefloquine (MQ), amodiaquine (AQ) and quinine. The emergence and spread of resistance to these commonly-used drugs has been largely responsible for the worsening of the malaria situation observed in the past decades.

Across the African continent, guidelines have recently been changed. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends for falciparum malaria the use of combination therapies, preferably those containing artemisinin derivatives (ACT, artemisinin-based combination therapy). Artemisinin derivatives, e.g. artesunate, artemether and dihydroartemisinin, being extremely potent antimalarial agents are the ideal partners in combinations with other antimalarials. ACTs have three demonstrable advantages over conventional therapy, they i) are efficacious in clearing asexual parasites, ii) substantially reduce post-treatment gametocyte carriage and iii) "protect" the partner drug from selecting resistant parasites.

In Kenya, both CQ and SP have lost clinical efficacy. CQ was replaced by SP in 1998 and in the year 2006, SP was effectively replaced by Artemether-Lumefantrine (AL: Coartem®). The policy change to the artemisinin-based drug AL is in line with the WHO recommendations to shift to ACT as first line antimalarial treatment.The most efficacious ACT, however, needs local comparisons in terms of treatment efficacy and transmission-reducing activity.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

219

Phase

  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Nyanza
      • Mbita, Nyanza, Kenya, 40305
        • St. Jude's Clinic, ICIPE Thomas Odhiambo Campus

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

6 months to 10 years (CHILD)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 6 months - 10 years
  • Residents of research area (5 km around the clinic)
  • Willingness to come for complete scheduled follow-up.
  • Uncomplicated malaria with P. falciparum mono-infection
  • Parasitaemia of 1000-200,000 parasites/ul
  • Temperature > 37.5°C and < 39.5°C, or history of fever in previous 24 hours.
  • No history of adverse reactions to AL
  • Understanding of the procedures of the study by parent or guardian and willing to participate by signing informed consent forms.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • General signs of severe malaria
  • Haemoglobin concentration < 5g/dl
  • Presence of disease other than malaria causing febrile conditions
  • Mixed infection with P. malariae or other non-falciparum malaria species
  • Unwilling to participate and sign informed consent forms.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: DOUBLE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Artemether- Lumefantrine
Treatment with artemether-lumefantrine (AL; Coartem; Novartis Pharma), administered as half a tablet (20 mg of artemether and 120 mg of lumefantrine) per 5 kg of body weight in a 6-dose regimen (at enrolment and 8, 20, 32, 44, and 56 h [+/-90 min] after the initiation of treatment). AL is currently the first line treatment in Tanzania Other Name: Coartem;
Other Names:
  • Coartem
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Drug: Mefloquine-Artesunate, an alternative ACT
Treatment with the paediatric fixed dose combination Mefloquine-Artesunate (MQ-AS; Artequin; Mepha, Aesch, Basel, Switzerland, artesunate (50 mg/day) and mefloquine (125 mg/day) fixed dose formulation (stick pack) once daily for 3 consecutive days, given in three daily doses. The weight range of enrolled children is chosen to be recommended for this fixed dose combination. MQ-AS is available in Kenya as Artequin and has been extensively tested in uncomplicated malaria in children.
Other Names:
  • Artequin

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
the number of participants with clinical and parasitological treatment failure after treatment artemether-lumefantrine (AL) and mefloquine-artesunate MQ-AS
Time Frame: 42 day follow-up
Parasite prevalence will be determined by microscopy and molecular methods on days 3-42 after intitiation of treatment. Clinical (fever+parasitological failure) and parasitological efficacy will be determined in relation to treatment arm and parasite clearance dynamics
42 day follow-up

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
the number of individuals with gametocytes after treatment with AL or MQ-AS
Time Frame: 42 days follow-up
gametocyte carriage will be determined by microscopy and molecular QT-NASBA to generate gametocyte prevalence estimates on follow-up days and the mean duration of gametocyte carriage in days.
42 days follow-up

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Patrick Sawa, MB.Ch.B, MSc., KCMC/ICIPE
  • Principal Investigator: Jaffu Chilongola, PhD, KCMC
  • Study Director: Colin Sutherland, PhD, LSHTM
  • Study Chair: Henk Schallig, PhD, KIT, Amsterdam

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

April 1, 2013

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

November 1, 2013

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

November 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 3, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 6, 2013

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

September 11, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

November 28, 2013

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 27, 2013

Last Verified

November 1, 2013

More Information

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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