This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (1)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • World Health  • Malaria  • Infectious Diseases  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Rebecca Voelker

JAMA. 2006;295:485-486.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

A complex mix of factors—lack of funds and political will, drug shortages, and complicated drug regimens—have stood in the way of more effective malaria treatment in underdeveloped nations. But international health experts hope the availability later this year of two new fixed-dose combination medications will help alleviate what they call an "appalling" crisis: the failure to treat millions with malaria.

One of the new formulations is a fixed-dose combination of artesunate and amodiaquine; the other combines artesunate and mefloquine. Both formulations are known as artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs). Artesunate, which is derived from the Chinese herb Artemisia annua, can rapidly improve malaria symptoms. Combining it with synthetic drugs such as mefloquine and amodiaquine accelerates the therapeutic response.

A new formulation of antimalarial drugs that combines artesunate and amodiaquine reduces the daily number of pills patients must take from 8 pills to only 2 pills. (Photo credit: Pierre . . . [Full Text of this Article]

IMPORTANT STEP FORWARD



CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Rare Diseases, Orphan Drugs, and Orphaned Patients
Scheindlin
Mol. Interv. 2006;6:186-191.
FULL TEXT