Research
Safety of artemether-lumefantrine in pregnant women with malaria: results of a prospective cohort study in Zambia
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* Corresponding author: Christine Manyando cmanyando@yahoo.com
- † Equal contributors
1 Tropical Diseases Research Centre, Ndola, Zambia
2 District Health Office, Choma, Zambia
3 District Health Office, Ndola, Zambia
4 District Health Office, Lusaka, Zambia
5 Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia
6 World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
7 Novartis Pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland
8 UNICEF, Lilongwe, Malawi
9 Former Senior Lecturer, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, United Medical Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals, University of London, London, UK
Malaria Journal 2010, 9:249 doi:10.1186/1475-2875-9-249
Published: 1 September 2010Abstract
Background
Safety data regarding exposure to artemisinin-based combination therapy in pregnancy are limited. This prospective cohort study conducted in Zambia evaluated the safety of artemether-lumefantrine (AL) in pregnant women with malaria.
Methods
Pregnant women attending antenatal clinics were assigned to groups based on the drug used to treat their most recent malaria episode (AL vs. sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine, SP). Safety was assessed using standard and pregnancy-specific parameters. Post-delivery follow-up was six weeks for mothers and 12 months for live births. Primary outcome was perinatal mortality (stillbirth or neonatal death within seven days after birth).
Results
Data from 1,001 pregnant women (AL n = 495; SP n = 506) and 933 newborns (AL n = 466; SP n = 467) showed: perinatal mortality (AL 4.2%; SP 5.0%), comprised of early neonatal mortality (each group 2.3%), stillbirths (AL 1.9%; SP 2.7%); preterm deliveries (AL 14.1%; SP 17.4% of foetuses); and gestational age-adjusted low birth weight (AL 9.0%; SP 7.7%). Infant birth defect incidence was 1.8% AL and 1.6% SP, excluding umbilical hernia. Abortions prior to antenatal care could not be determined: abortion occurred in 4.5% of women treated with AL during their first trimester; none were reported in the 133 women exposed to SP and/or quinine during their first trimester. Overall development (including neurological assessment) was similar in both groups.
Conclusions
These data suggest that exposure to AL in pregnancy, including first trimester, is not associated with particular safety risks in terms of perinatal mortality, malformations, or developmental impairment. However, more data are required on AL use during the first trimester.