E-DRUG: RFI: Artemisinin-related ADRs
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Dear e-druggers,
Can I be better educated on other known adverse
reactions associated with artesunate or
dihydroartemisinin in the treatment of uncomplicated
falciparum malaria besides the manufacturer-reported
nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, decreased reticulocyte
count and elevation of liver enzymes?
Thank you!
Olutayo Adetokunbo Moronkeji,Pharmacist
OAUTH Wesley Guild Hospital,
Ilesa, NIGERIA
oamoronkeji@yahoo.com
[WHO guidelines for antimalaria drugs (144 pages) are online at
http://www.rbm.who.int/cmc_upload/0/000/014/923/use_of_antimalarials.pdf
Anyone knows of a good website for artemisinine ADRs? WB]
E-DRUG: RFI: Artemisinin-related ADRs (2)
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An apparently irreversible ototoxicity has been documented with the
combination artemether-lumefantrine. It is not clear whether this is
attributable to the artemether or the lumefantrine.
Ref: Toovey S, Jamieson A. Audiometric changes associated with the treatment
of uncomplicated falciparum malaria with co-artemether. Transactions of the
Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 2004;98/5:261-267.
regards
Dr Stephen Toovey MBBCh, CTM, FACTM, FFTM
Johannesburg South Africa
toovey@travelclinic.co.za
E-DRUG: RFI: Artemisinin-related ADRs (3)
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Dear Olutayo Adetokunbo Moronkeji,
I wish I could help you. As a matter of fact there are very few side effects of these drugs. Those mentioned in the leaflet are not necessarily related to the drug, but probably to the disease. Over the past 12 years we tried hard to detect side effects but failed and whenever I lectured (spread over many years) about these drugs to African medical audiences (many times quite familiar with the use of these drugs) nobody ever could tell me what he considered to be a real side effect of these drugs. In here you can also include artemether. I really do not know whether these drugs do have side effects. If yes, what are they, and also I believe that, if they exist at all, their incidence must be very very low.
Sincerely yours,
Herwig Jansen
Clinical Pharmacologist
Belgium
Fhjansen@skynet.be