Chemopreventive Therapy for Malaria in Ugandan Children

Summary

Young African children living in high transmission areas suffer the greatest burden of malaria. In most African countries, such as Uganda, the only current preventive measure against malaria in high transmission settings is the use of insecticide treated bednets (ITNs). Preliminary data show that even in the setting of ITN use, young children living in a high transmission setting suffer almost 4 episodes of clinical malaria per year, highlighting the need for new preventive strategies. Chemopreventive strategies offer a potential means of reducing the burden of malaria among young children living in a high transmission setting. This study will compare the efficacy and safety of 3 promising chemopreventive strategies (monthly dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine, monthly sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, daily trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole) with the current standard of no chemoprevention and will be conducted in two distinct patient populations: 1) HIV-unexposed children (HIV-uninfected children born to HIV-uninfected mothers) and 2) HIV-exposed children (HIV-uninfected children born to HIV-infected mothers). The intervention will begin in HIV-unexposed children when they reach 6 months of age, the time at which the incidence of malaria begins to increase, and will be continued until the children reach 24 months of age, which prior data suggest is when the incidence of malaria begins to decline due to the development of semi-immunity. In addition, study participants will be followed for one additional year following chemopreventive therapy to examine for "rebound" in the incidence of malaria following our intervention. HIV-exposed children will begin the intervention when they have completed breastfeeding and have been confirmed to remain HIV-uninfected. The intervention will continue until study participants reach 24 months of age and then the study participants will be followed for an additional year to examine for rebound in the incidence of malaria. It is anticipated that the results of this study will provide valuable comparative data on the effect of different chemopreventive strategies on malaria incidence in two distinct patient populations at high risk for malaria. In addition it is anticipated the results of this study will provide insight into the development of naturally acquired antimalarial immunity in the setting of chemopreventive therapy that will differ in terms of the drug regimens, the age at which the intervention is started, and the HIV status of the mothers.

Timeline

Start

2010-06

Primary completion

2014-04

Completion

2014-04

Publications

• Results Osterbauer B, Kapisi J, Bigira V, Mwangwa F, Kinara S, Kamya MR, Dorsey G. Factors associated with malaria parasitaemia, malnutrition, and anaemia among HIV-exposed and unexposed Ugandan infants: a cross-sectional survey. Malar J. 2012 Dec 27;11:432. doi: 10.1186/1475-2875-11-432.
• Results Ochong E, Tumwebaze PK, Byaruhanga O, Greenhouse B, Rosenthal PJ. Fitness Consequences of Plasmodium falciparum pfmdr1 Polymorphisms Inferred from Ex Vivo Culture of Ugandan Parasites. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2013 Sep;57(9):4245-4251. doi: 10.1128/AAC.00161-13. Epub 2013 Jun 24.
• Results Marquez C, Okiring J, Chamie G, Ruel TD, Achan J, Kakuru A, Kamya MR, Charlebois ED, Havlir DV, Dorsey G. Increased morbidity in early childhood among HIV-exposed uninfected children in Uganda is associated with breastfeeding duration. J Trop Pediatr. 2014 Dec;60(6):434-41. doi: 10.1093/tropej/fmu045. Epub 2014 Aug 21.
• Results Kamya MR, Kapisi J, Bigira V, Clark TD, Kinara S, Mwangwa F, Muhindo MK, Kakuru A, Aweeka FT, Huang L, Jagannathan P, Achan J, Havlir DV, Rosenthal PJ, Dorsey G. Efficacy and safety of three regimens for the prevention of malaria in young HIV-exposed Ugandan children: a randomized controlled trial. AIDS. 2014 Nov 28;28(18):2701-9. doi: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000000497.
• Results Kapisi J, Bigira V, Clark T, Kinara S, Mwangwa F, Achan J, Kamya M, Soremekun S, Dorsey G. Efficacy and safety of artemether-lumefantrine for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria in the setting of three different chemopreventive regimens. Malar J. 2015 Feb 5;14:53. doi: 10.1186/s12936-015-0583-9.
• Results Snyman K, Mwangwa F, Bigira V, Kapisi J, Clark TD, Osterbauer B, Greenhouse B, Sturrock H, Gosling R, Liu J, Dorsey G. Poor housing construction associated with increased malaria incidence in a cohort of young Ugandan children. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2015 Jun;92(6):1207-13. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.14-0828. Epub 2015 Apr 13.
• Results Bigira V, Kapisi J, Clark TD, Kinara S, Mwangwa F, Muhindo MK, Osterbauer B, Aweeka FT, Huang L, Achan J, Havlir DV, Rosenthal PJ, Kamya MR, Dorsey G. Protective efficacy and safety of three antimalarial regimens for the prevention of malaria in young Ugandan children: a randomized controlled trial. PLoS Med. 2014 Aug 5;11(8):e1001689. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001689. eCollection 2014 Aug.
• Results Sundell K, Jagannathan P, Huang L, Bigira V, Kapisi J, Kakuru MM, Savic R, Kamya MR, Dorsey G, Aweeka F. Variable piperaquine exposure significantly impacts protective efficacy of monthly dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine for the prevention of malaria in Ugandan children. Malar J. 2015 Sep 24;14:368. doi: 10.1186/s12936-015-0908-8.
• Results Tumwebaze P, Conrad MD, Walakira A, LeClair N, Byaruhanga O, Nakazibwe C, Kozak B, Bloome J, Okiring J, Kakuru A, Bigira V, Kapisi J, Legac J, Gut J, Cooper RA, Kamya MR, Havlir DV, Dorsey G, Greenhouse B, Nsobya SL, Rosenthal PJ. Impact of antimalarial treatment and chemoprevention on the drug sensitivity of malaria parasites isolated from ugandan children. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2015;59(6):3018-30. doi: 10.1128/AAC.05141-14. Epub 2015 Mar 9.

Drugs

Indications