Declining efficacies of Chloroquine and sulfadoxine Pyremethamine against Plasmodium falciparum in North Central Nigeria. Parasitological performance of drugs

Abstract

The sensitivity of Plasmodium falciparum to chloroquine (CQ) and sulfadoxine-pyrimcthamine (SP) combination was assessed in vim in children under five years of age in Barkin Iadi. in the cool Plateau of North Central Nigeria using the standard 14-day protocol. This was the first study of its kind, in this pan mine country under the new roll back malaria (RBM) initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO), P. falciparum was detected in 42% 530 children screened: pure P. falciparum 97%, pure P. malariae 2% and mixed infection of P. falciparum and P. malariae, 1%. the computed parasite density index (PDI) was 7.42. children who qualified for the study (54 for CQ and 55 for SP) were average 31.1+14.7 and 26.5+14.9 months old, weighing 12.1 + 2.9 and 10.8 + 3.6 Kg respectively. Average drug consumptions were 304.0 +72.3 mg for CQ and 0.6 +0.2 tablet for SP. Cure rates were only 43% and 85% while mean parasite clearance times (MPCTs) were 5.07 and 3.37 days respectively confirming a significant decline in sensitivity of P. falciparum to drugs. The need for an effective fist time drug as well as combining SP with an effective anti malaria drug is strongly emphasized.