Comparative efficacy of chloroquine and sulphadoxine--pyrimethamine in pregnant women and children: a meta-analysis.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of chloroquine and sulphadoxine-pyremethamine against Plasmodium falciparum infection in pregnant women and in children from the same endemic areas of Africa, with the aim of determining the level of correspondence in efficacy determinations in these two risk groups.

Methods: Meta-analysis of nine published and unpublished in vivo antimalarial efficacy studies in pregnant women and in children across five African countries.

Results: Pregnant women (all gravidae) were more likely to be sensitive than children to both chloroquine (odds ratio: 2.