Atovaquone and proguanil versus amodiaquine for the treatment of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in African infants and young children.

Malaria-related morbidity and mortality are greatest among young children in areas with high malaria transmission intensity. An open-label, randomized study was done to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the combination of atovaquone and proguanil formulated as pediatric-strength tablets (20 and 8 mg/kg of body weight, respectively, administered once daily for 3 days), compared with amodiaquine (10 mg/kg of body weight, once daily for 3 days), among children weighing > or =5 and <11 kg in Gabon. Two hundred patients aged 3-43 months were recruited.

Age-dependent enhancement of IFN-gamma responses to Plasmodium falciparum liver stage antigen-1 T cell epitopes.

We assessed the cellular immunological responses to two Plasmodium falciparum liver-stage antigen (LSA)-1-derived T-cell epitopes in healthy Gabonese children and adults. The N-terminal peptide, designated T1, induced interferon (IFN)-gamma production in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from a significantly lower proportion of children compared to adults, but both interleukin (IL)-10 and IL-12 were produced by similar proportions of PBMC from the two groups. The LSA-1 junction region peptide (LSA-J) also induced IFN-gamma in a lower, but in this case statistically non-significant, proportion of PBMC from children compared to adults, whilst the proportions producing either IL-10 or IL-12 were again similar.

Amodiaquine-artesunate versus amodiaquine for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in African children: a randomised, multicentre trial.

Background: Increasing drug resistance limits the choice of efficacious chemotherapy against Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Africa. Amodiaquine still retains efficacy against P falciparum in many African countries. We assessed the safety, treatment efficacy, and effect on gametocyte carriage of adding artesunate to amodiaquine in three randomised trials in Kenya, Sénégal, and Gabon.

Plasmodium falciparum liver-stage antigen-1 peptide-specific interferon-gamma responses are not suppressed during uncomplicated malaria in African children.

Liver-stage antigen (LSA)-1 is a candidate vaccine molecule for Plasmodium falciparum malaria, but knowledge of the evolution of naturally acquired immune responses to LSA-1 in African children is lacking. We therefore assessed cellular immune responses to two defined T cell epitopes of LSA-1, during and after uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria in a group of Gabonese children.