Lumartem Dosage

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QUESTION

What is the dosage for a toddler who is taking Lumartem tablet?

ANSWER

Lumartem, like many anti-malarial drugs, is dosed by weight. Therefore if your toddler weights 5-15kg, s/he should be give one tablet (containing 20mg of artemether and 120mg of lumefantrine) immediately after diagnosis of malaria, then another tablet 8 hours after the first one, then one tablet every 12 hours after that until the end of the 3rd day (a total of 6 tablets, taken over 6 doses).

For children weighing 15-25kg, the timing of the doses is the same, but each time, give two tablets. Try not to miss a dose, but if you do, give the child the missed dose as soon as you remember, then wait the prescribed time interval (12 hours, usually) before giving the next one. Do not give a double dose.

What to do while on malaria medication

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QUESTION

Good day, I’m a 27yr old male currently in Nigeria. I would like to know my do’s and don’ts while on malaria medication. I ask this so I know what to forego in my athletic lifestyle- I visit the gym 3-4 times a week and have recently started horse riding.

ANSWER

There isn’t any restriction on the kinds of activities you can enjoy while on malaria medication! You should be able to continue with your normal healthy lifestyle. However, be aware that the foods you eat may have some impact on your body’s ability to uptake the anti-malarials. For example, it is recommended to take Malarone (atovaquone-proguanil) together with some food containing fat, as this aids absorption and reduces side effects. Conversely, if you are taking doxycycline, you should NOT take it within a few hours (and certainly not at the same time) as dairy products, as the calcium in milk can inhibit uptake of the drug.

Recurrence of Malaria Symptoms

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QUESTION

If a person suffering from malaria is given the proper treatment and he gets well but he again develops the symptoms of malaria..? These symptoms would arise from liver or blood? Who’ll be responsible for the recurrence of the symptoms?

ANSWER

Malaria can come back in three ways: first of all, the person could have been successfully treated, but then re-infected again by being bitten by an infected mosquito. In these cases, the person should focus on improved malaria prevention, such as sleeping under a long-lasting insecticide treated bednet.

Secondly, the patient could have recrudescence: when the patient takes medication, the treatment kills most of the malaria parasites in the blood, and enough so the patient feels better again, but some parasites still remain. Then, after the treatment finished, the parasite is able to replicate again, they increase in number in the blood and the patient feels ill again. In this case, you would say the infection came back from the blood, and the patient should take another dose of anti-malarials, but of a different kind to that which they originally had, in order to kill all of the parasites.

Finally, there is what is called relapse, which only occurs with two types of malaria: Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium ovale. These are able to form dormant stages in the liver, so even when all the parasites are killed in the blood by the malarial treatment, these dormant forms survive. Many weeks, months or even years later, these dormant liver stages can re-activate and enter the blood again, causing new malaria symptoms. In this case, the liver was the source of the parasites. Again, the active blood infection should be treated with anti-malarials, but the patient should also talk to their doctor about taking primaquine, a drug which can kill any remaining dormant liver forms and thus prevent future relapses.

Trophozoites of Plasmodium Vivax

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QUESTION

What should I take in this condition? After treatment I came to know that Rechocin should be taken for 6 months 2  weekly.

ANSWER

I am not sure I understand your question, but if you have been diagnosed with trophozoites of Plasmodium vivax in your blood, then you can be treated with normal anti-malarials (the World Health Organization recommends artemisinin-based combination therapies for first line treatment of uncomplicated malaria, but depending where you are, you might even just be able to take chloroquine), as these kill the blood stages of malaria. To prevent relapse, caused by hypnozoites dormant in the liver, you should talk to your doctor about the possibility of also taking a course of primaquine, which usually lasts 14 days. This drug is not suitable for people with G6DP deficiency, however, so you may need a test for this condition before you can take the treatment.

Can Child Be Affected by Mother’s Malaria

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QUESTION
If the baby’s mother has malaria, can it affect the child?

ANSWER

If the mother is pregnant when she gets malaria, particularly if it is her first pregnancy and particularly if she has never had malaria before, the effects on both the mother and child can be very serious. For the mother, this is because her immune system changes when she gets pregnant. This leaves her more vulnerable to the effects of malaria, including anaemia.

The most dangerous type of malaria, P. falciparum, also seems very able to infect cells in the placenta, leading to a higher intensity infection, and also reducing oxygen delivery to the baby. This, combined with the mother’s illness and anaemia, can lead to low birth weight, anaemia and other complications in the child once it is born. Malaria can also pass through the placenta, or be transferred to the baby through blood during childbirth, resulting in “congenital malaria”; that is, malaria which has been passed from mother to infant. Since newborns have inexperienced immune systems, malaria in the first days or weeks of life, and especially if the child is already low birth weight, can be very dangerous.

As such, a lot of effort has gone to finding ways to prevent malaria in pregnancy and to treat women who do get malaria while pregnant to prevent negative effects both to her and her unborn child. These efforts mainly involve the distribution of long-lasting insecticide treated bednets, and in some places also include the administration of intermittent preventive therapy, where women are given periodic doses of anti-malarials during pregnancy to protect against the disease.

Complete Course of Anti-Malarial Drugs

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QUESTION

Hi, I am in Goa and so far have not been bitten by anything. I am taking anti malaria tablets which I do not like. My question is this. If I do not receive any bites do I need to complete the course when I get home?

ANSWER

It is always better to complete the course of anti-malarials, just in case you actually did get bitten but just did not notice it. However, in some cases, the side-effects of anti-malarials can be uncomfortable and unpleasant, so I understand your dilemma. Just remember that there is always a risk of contracting malaria if you stop your anti-malarials early.

We at MALARIA.com are very interesting in learning about people’s experiences with anti-malarial drugs. Please take a few minutes to complete our Malaria Survey. All answers are anonymous and we will post the results on MALARIA.com.