Cotrimoxazole in the Treatment of Acute Uncomplicated Falciparum Malaria in Nigerian Children

Abstract

To evaluate the efficacy of cotrimoxazole in the treatment of Plasmodium falciparum malaria and to compare the efficacy of cotrimoxazole with that of pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine, a second-line antimalarial drug, in an area of high malaria transmission. Children aged between 10 months and 10 years with clinical and parasitological evidence of P. falciparum malaria were randomised to receive either cotrimoxazole or pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine. 145 children (73 and 72, respectively, in the cotrimoxazole and pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine groups) completed the study per protocol and were evaluated. Pretreatment clinical and parasitological parameters were similar in the two treatment groups. The time to clear fever and other symptoms was similar in the two groups: 1.94 +/- 1.10 days versus 2.20 +/- 0.96 days, p > 0.05. Parasite clearance times were also similar: 2.62 +/- 0.91 days versus 2.94 +/- 1.17 days, respectively, for cotrimoxazole and pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine; p > 0.05. The cure rates on days 14, 21 and 28 were, respectively, 84.9, 75.3 and 74.0% for the cotrimoxazole group and 84.7, 80.5 and 75.0% for the pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine group. Both drugs were well tolerated. These results indicate that cotrimoxazole has similar efficacy to pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine in the treatment of acute uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria in children resident in an endemic area of Southwest Nigeria.