New Malaria Treatment for Newborns

MBBS
, , , ,
1

Malaria is one of the most deadly infectious diseases, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. While many treatments exist for older children, infants under ~5 kilograms have been a less focused group till now.

  • Coartem Baby (also called Riamet Baby) is the first malaria treatment specifically approved for newborns and young infants weighing between about 2 kg up to less than 4.5 kg.

  • It’s a formulation of artemether-lumefantrine, a combination already used in older children, but now adapted with proper dosing, flavour (sweet cherry) and dissolvable properties (including in breast milk) to make administration to newborns easier and safer.

:microscope: Clinically Relevance:

  • Infants under ~5 kg have different metabolic and physiological characteristics such as immature liver function, different drug absorption, etc. So using medicines designed for older children can lead to dosing errors, toxicity or poor efficacy.

  • Previously, there was no approved treatment for this age group. They were often given lower doses of older-child treatments, with uncertain safety and effectiveness.

  • The clinical data (CALINA trial) demonstrated that Coartem Baby is effective, safe and well tolerated in infants <5 kg with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria.

:globe_showing_europe_africa: Access & Public Health Impact:

  • Swissmedic approved Coartem Baby under the Marketing Authorisation for Global Health Products (MAGHP) pathway.

  • Eight African countries (including Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Burkina Faso) participated in the assessment and are expected to grant approvals soon.

  • Novartis, together with Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), plans to distribute Coartem Baby largely on a not-for-profit basis in endemic regions.

Read More Here: Malaria Treatment for Newborns

How quickly do you think national malaria control programs (especially in Africa) can integrate this new treatment? What obstacles do you think can the new treatment face in terms of policy, education or supply chain?

MBH/AB

3 Likes
2

Exact data of how many newborn < 5kg had been affected by severe malaria in Africa or world is unclear . But there is no doubt that malaria in pregnancy do transmit it to new born and has huge number of mortality cases . It will fil up the gap in management of malaria in newborn , hope it shows more better outcome and get included in health programs.

1 Like
3

I wish this can reach to many small children out there with rapid positive response

1 Like