Artemisinin-based combination therapy for ... - The Cochrane Library

Early vomiting
Not reported.
D I S C U S S I O N
Summary of main results
Efficacy (as measured by total failure)
The WHO has set two standards for antimalarial drugs:
1. that a total failure rate (adjusted for new infections) of >
10% should trigger a change of first-line drug policy; and
2. that a new drug being adopted as policy should have total
failure rates (adjusted for new infections) of < 5%.
This review has demonstrated that:
• In head to head trials the newest ACT, dihydroartemisininpiperaquine,
achieved the standard of < 5% total failure in 15 out
of the 17 studies it was involved in. DHA-P appears to be at least
as effective as AS+MQ in Asia (eight trials) providing a valuable
alternative to current therapy. In clinical trials in Africa, DHA-P
may be more effective than the current widely used options AL6
(four trials) and AS+AQ (one trial), although these two drugs
continue to perform well in many areas (Figure 3; Figure 4).
Artemisinin-based combination therapy for treating uncomplicated malaria (Review)
Copyright © 2009 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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