High efficacy of artemether-lumefantrine and declining efficacy of artesunate + sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine against Plasmodium falciparum in Sudan (2010-2015): evidence from in vivo and molecular marker studies.

Background: The present paper reports on studies that evaluated artesunate + sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (AS + SP) which is the first-line drug and artemether-lumefantrine (AL) which is a second-line drug against uncomplicated falciparum malaria in Sudan. This evaluation was performed in twenty studies covering six sentinel sites during five successive annual malaria transmission seasons from 2010 to 2015.

Methods: The standard World Health Organization protocol was used for a follow-up period of 28 days.