European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

ANTI-MALARIA AND ANTI-PYRETIC CHANGES IN ARTHEMETHER-LUMEFANTRINE THERAPY ON RESIDENTS OF NNEWI, NIGERIA

Madubogwu N. U*., M. A. Omoirri., Chukwurah I. B., Iloh E. S and 4Achi C. J.

ABSTRACT

In 1917 the Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist Julius Wagner von Jauregg observed that patients suffering from this disease were greatly improved after suffering a malaria attack, which had caused high fever. Though fever is basically a protective mechanism that produces weakness and fatigue with reportedly increasing incidence of its lethargy in sub-Sahara Africa, it is generally treated by lowering the body’s temperature with numerous anti-pyretic drugs. Thus, current study determined the anti-fever and anti-malaria efficacy of one of the numerous anti-malaria agents, Arthemether-Lumefantrine, using residents of the Nnewi community in Anambra State, Nigeria as case study. One hundred (100) malaria sufferers were ethically recruited from the General Outpatients Department (GOPD) of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Anambra State. Thereafter, subjects’ consent and co-operation was sought, and Artemether-Lumefantrine combination (combination therapy) was then orally administered, while obtaining Blood samples 10 min before, and on days 4, 8, 10 and 14 after drug administration. Arthemether-Lumefantrine was then evaluated for fever clearance and malaria cure rates at the end of the 14th day. This evaluation was made by determining the time of drug administration till axillary temperature fell below 37.5oC and remained so for at least 48 hours. After carefully obtaining data, statistical analysis was then made to compare differences in mean (using the one way analysis of variance, ANOVA) for parasitemia clearance time between days of drug administration. p-value was set at 95% confidence interval, with significance level at p < 0.05. Following analysis, Study found a significant clearance in parasitaemia levels of 63% of the patients treated with artemether –lumefantrine after four days of treatment. On day 8 after treatment, 92% of the patient were free of the patent parasitaemia while on day 10 and 14 after treatment 99% of the patient were free of patent parasitaemia, though this does not mean that the patients were parasitologically cured because of recrudescence.This result shows that only one patient out of one hundred patients treated with artemether-lumefantrine still had malaria parasite after treatment. Therefore the overall cure rates after 14 days of treatment was 99%.

Keywords: Arthemether-Lumefantrine, Fever, Malaria.