Search Results

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Thumbnail Image
    PublicationOpen Access
    Rapid clinical assessment to facilitate the triage of adults with falciparum malaria, a retrospective analysis.
    (2014-01-29) Hanson, Josh; Lee, Sue J.; Mohanty, Sanjib; Faiz, M. Abul; Anstey, Nicholas M.; Price, Ric N.; Prakaykaew Charunwatthana; ประกายแก้ว จรูญวรรธนะ; Yunus, Emran Bin; Mishra, Saroj K.; Tjitra, Emiliana; Ridwanur Rahman; Francois Nosten; Htut, Ye; Maude, Richard J.; Chau, Tran Thi Hong; Phu, Nguyen Hoan; Hien, Tran Tinh; White, Nicholas J.; Day, Nicholas P. J.; Dondorp, Arjen M.; Hanson, Josh; Mahidol University. Faculty of Tropical Medicine. Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit.
    BACKGROUND: Most adults dying from falciparum malaria will die within 48 hours of their hospitalisation. An essential component of early supportive care is the rapid identification of patients at greatest risk. In resource-poor settings, where most patients with falciparum malaria are managed, decisions regarding patient care must frequently be made using clinical evaluation alone. METHODS: We retrospectively analysed 4 studies of 1801 adults with severe falciparum malaria to determine whether the presence of simple clinical findings might assist patient triage. RESULTS: If present on admission, shock, oligo-anuria, hypo- or hyperglycaemia, an increased respiratory rate, a decreased Glasgow Coma Score and an absence of fever were independently predictive of death. The variables were used to construct a simple clinical algorithm. When applied to the 1801 patients, this algorithm's positive predictive value for survival to 48 hours was 99.4 (95% confidence interval (CI) 97.8-99.9) and for survival to discharge 96.9% (95% CI 94.3-98.5). In the 712 patients receiving artesunate, the algorithm's positive predictive value for survival to 48 hours was 100% (95% CI 97.3-100) and to discharge was 98.5% (95% CI 94.8-99.8). CONCLUSIONS: Simple clinical findings are closely linked to the pathophysiology of severe falciparum malaria in adults. A basic algorithm employing these indices can facilitate the triage of patients in settings where intensive care services are limited. Patients classified as low-risk by this algorithm can be safely managed initially on a general ward whilst awaiting senior clinical review and laboratory data.
  • Thumbnail Image
    PublicationOpen Access
    Cost effectiveness and resource allocation of Plasmodium falciparum malaria control in Myanmar: a modelling analysis of bed nets and community health workers
    (2015) Drake, Tom L.; Kyaw, Shwe Sin; Kyaw, Myat Phone; Smithuis, Frank M.; Day, Nicholas P. J.; White, Lisa J.; Yoel Lubell; Mahidol University. Faculty of Tropical Medicine. Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit
    and scenario analysis are undertaken to identify key drivers of cost effectiveness. Standard cost effectiveness analysis is then extended via a spatially explicit resource allocation model. Findings: Community health workers have the potential for high impact
  • Thumbnail Image
    PublicationOpen Access
    Genetic variability of Plasmodium malariae dihydropteroate synthase (dhps) in four Asian countries.
    (2014-04-03) Naowarat Tanomsing; เนาวรัตน์ ถนอมสิงห์; Mayxay, Mayfong; Newton, Paul N.; Nosten, Francois; Dolecek, Christiane; Hien, Tran Tinh; White, Nicholas J.; Day, Nicholas P. J.; Dondorp, Arjen M.; Mallika Imwong; มัลลิกา อิ่มวงศ์; Mallika Imwong; Mahidol University. Faculty of Tropical Medicine. Department of Molecular Tropical Medicine and Genetics; Mahidol University. Faculty of Tropical Medicine. Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit; Mahidol University. Faculty of Tropical Medicine. Shoklo Malaria Research Unit, Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Uni.
    The dihydropteroate synthase (dhps) genes of 44 P. malariae strains from four Asian countries were isolated. Only a limited number of polymorphisms were observed. Comparison with homologous mutations in other Plasmodium species showed that these polymorphisms are unlikely to be associated with sulfadoxine resistance.
  • Thumbnail Image
    PublicationOpen Access
    Geographic distribution of amino acid mutations in DHFR and DHPS in Plasmodium vivax isolates from Lao PDR, India and Colombia
    (2016) Naowarat Saralamba; Supatchara Nakeesathit; Mayfong Mayxay; Newton, Paul N.; Lyda Osorio; Kim, Jung‑Ryong; White, Nicholas J.; Day, Nicholas P. J.; Dondorp, Arjen M.; Mallika Imwong; Mahidol University. Faculty of Tropical Medicine. Department of Molecular Tropical Medicine and Genetics
    the corresponding wild-type amino acids were found at high frequencies in Lao PDR during 2001–2004 (57.8 %). Size polymorphism analysis of the tandem repeats within pvdhfr revealed that 74.3 % of all the isolates carried the type B variant. Eighty-nine per cent
  • Thumbnail Image
    PublicationOpen Access
    Clinical trials of artesunate plus sulfadoxine‑pyrimethamine for Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Afghanistan: maintained efficacy a decade after introduction
    (2016) Ghulam Rahim Awab; Mallika Imwong; Sasithon Pukrittayakamee; Fazel Alim; Warunee Hanpithakpong; Joel Tarning; Dondorp, Arjen M.; Day, Nicholas P. J.; White, Nicholas J.; Woodrow, Charles J.; Mahidol University. Faculty of Tropical Medicine. Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU)
    Background: Combination therapy with artesunate plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) was adopted as recommended treatment for Plasmodium falciparum infection in Afghanistan in 2003. Methods: A series of prospective clinical studies examining the efficacy of artesunate plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (AS + SP) against P. falciparum were undertaken in sentinel sites in Afghanistan from 2007 to 2014, accompanied by relevant molecular studies. The first study was a randomized trial of AS + SP versus dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine, while two subsequent studies were standard therapeutic efficacy studies of AS + SP. Results: Three hundred and three patients were enrolled across four provinces in the north and east of the country. Curative efficacy was high in all the trials, with an adequate clinical and parasitological response (ACPR) of more than 95 % in all groups and trial stages. Genotyping for drug-resistance alleles at dhfr indicated fixation of the S108 N mutation and a prevalence of the C59R mutation of approximately 95 % across all sites. Other mutations in dhfr and dhps remained rare or absent entirely, although five isolates from the first trial carried the dhps triple mutant SGEGA haplotype. In the last study undertaken in 2012–2014 the K13 artemisinin resistance marker was examined; only two of 60 successfully sequenced samples carried a K13-propeller mutation. Conclusions: These data confirm maintained efficacy 10 years after introduction of artesunate plus SP as combination treatment of P. falciparum in Afghanistan. The molecular data indicate that despite a substantial fall in incidence, resistance has not developed to artemisinins, or intensified to the ACT partner drug components. Trial Registration http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct NCT00682578, NCT01115439 and NCT01707199
  • Thumbnail Image
    PublicationOpen Access
    Persistent Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax infections in a western Cambodian population: implications for prevention, treatment and elimination strategies
    (2016) Rupam Tripura; Peto, Thomas J.; Jeremy Chalk; Lee, Sue J.; Pasathorn Sirithiranont; Chea Nguon; Mehul Dhorda; Seidlein, Lorenz von; Maude, Richard J.; Day, Nicholas P. J.; Mallika Imwong; White, Nicholas J.; Dondorp, Arjen M.; Mahidol University. Faculty of Tropical Medicine. Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit
    Background: Subclinical Plasmodium parasitaemia is an important reservoir for the transmission and persistence of malaria, particularly in low transmission areas. Methods: Using ultrasensitive quantitative PCR (uPCR) for the detection of parasitaemia, the entire population of three Cambodian villages in Pailin province were followed for 1 year at three-monthly intervals. A cohort of adult participants found initially to have asymptomatic malaria parasitaemia was followed monthly over the same period. Results: The initial cross sectional survey in June 2013 (M0) of 1447 asymptomatic residents found that 32 (2.2 %) had Plasmodium falciparum, 48 (3.3 %) had P. vivax, 4 (0.3 %) had mixed infections and in 142/1447 (9.8 %) malaria was detected but there was insufficient DNA to identify the species (Plasmodium. species). Polymorphisms in the ‘K13-propeller’ associated with reduced susceptibility to artemisinin derivatives (C580Y) were found in 17/32 (51 %) P. falciparum strains. Monthly follow-up without treatment of 24 adult participants with asymptomatic mono or mixed P. falciparum infections found that 3/24 (13 %) remained parasitaemic for 2–4 months, whereas the remaining 21/24 (87 %) participants had cleared their parasitaemia after 1 month. In contrast, 12/34 (35 %) adult participants with P. vivax mono-infection at M0 had malaria parasites (P. vivax or P. sp.) during four or more of the following 11 monthly surveys. Conclusions: This longitudinal survey in a low transmission setting shows limited duration of P. falciparum carriage, but prolonged carriage of P. vivax infections. Radical treatment of P. vivax infections by 8-aminoquinoline regimens may be required to eliminate all malaria from Cambodia. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01872702