Fosmidomycin plus clindamycin for treatment of pediatric patients aged 1 to 14 years with Plasmodium falciparum malaria

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2006 Aug;50(8):2713-8. doi: 10.1128/AAC.00392-06.

Abstract

Fosmidomycin plus clindamycin was shown to be efficacious in the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in a small cohort of pediatric patients aged 7 to 14 years, but more data, including data on younger children with less antiparasitic immunity, are needed to determine the potential value of this new antimalarial combination. We conducted a single-arm study to improve the precision of efficacy estimates for an oral 3-day fixed-ratio combination of fosmidomycin and clindamycin at 30 and 10 mg/kg of body weight, respectively, every 12 hours for the treatment of uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria in 51 pediatric outpatients aged 1 to 14 years. Fosmidomycin plus clindamycin was generally well tolerated, but relatively high rates of treatment-associated neutropenia (8/51 [16%]) and falls of hemoglobin concentrations of > or =2 g/dl (7/51 [14%]) are of concern. Asexual parasites and fever were cleared within median periods of 42 h and 38 h, respectively. All patients who could be evaluated were parasitologically and clinically cured by day 14 (49/49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 93 to 100%). The per-protocol, PCR-adjusted day 28 cure rate was 89% (42/47; 95% CI, 77 to 96%). Efficacy appeared to be significantly reduced in children aged 1 to 2 years, with a day 28 cure rate of only 62% for this small subgroup (5/8). The inadequate efficacy in children of <3 years highlights the need for continued systematic studies of the current dosing regimen, which should include randomized trial designs.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial, Phase II
  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Administration, Oral
  • Adolescent
  • Animals
  • Antimalarials / administration & dosage
  • Antimalarials / adverse effects
  • Antimalarials / pharmacology
  • Antimalarials / therapeutic use*
  • Blood / parasitology
  • Child
  • Clindamycin / administration & dosage
  • Clindamycin / adverse effects
  • Clindamycin / pharmacology
  • Clindamycin / therapeutic use*
  • Drug Therapy, Combination
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Fosfomycin / administration & dosage
  • Fosfomycin / adverse effects
  • Fosfomycin / analogs & derivatives*
  • Fosfomycin / pharmacology
  • Fosfomycin / therapeutic use
  • Hemoglobins / drug effects
  • Hemoglobins / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Malaria, Falciparum / drug therapy*
  • Malaria, Falciparum / parasitology
  • Male
  • Parasitemia
  • Plasmodium falciparum / drug effects
  • Plasmodium falciparum / isolation & purification

Substances

  • Antimalarials
  • Hemoglobins
  • Fosfomycin
  • Clindamycin
  • fosmidomycin