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Hot Topics in Infection and Immunity in Children IX pp 241–250Cite as

Management of Severe Malaria: Results from Recent Trials

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Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 764))

Abstract

Globally, malaria remains a substantial public health burden with an estimated 349–552 million clinical cases of P. falciparum malaria each year—leading to 780,000 deaths directly attributable to the disease. Whilst the outcome from severe malaria in Africa children remains poor, recent developments in the management of malaria have come from two key sources—the introduction of new, safe and rapidly-effective anti-malarials and high quality evidence from two of the largest clinical trials ever conducted in African children with severe malaria. As a result, the time-honoured anti-malarial treatment for severe malaria, quinine, will now be replaced by artesunate, a water-soluble artemisinin derivative. Supportive care, specifically the management of shock, has been informed by a large late phase clinical trial which concluded that bolus resuscitation is harmful and therefore should be avoided in children with severe malaria, including the high risk group with severe metabolic acidosis and advanced shock.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Programme, Kilifi, Kenya

    Kathryn Maitland

  2. Department of Paediatrics, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Kathryn Maitland

  3. Mbale Regional Referral Hospital, Mbale, Uganda

    Peter Olupot-Olupot

Authors
  1. Peter Olupot-Olupot
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  2. Kathryn Maitland
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kathryn Maitland .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Royal Children's Hospital, Dept. Pediatrics, University of Melbourne, Flemington Road, Parkville, 3052, Victoria, Australia

    Nigel Curtis

  2. Institute of Child Life and Health, UBHT Education Centre, University of Bristol, Upper Maudlin Street, Bristol, BS28AE, UK

    Adam Finn

  3. University of Oxford, Level 4,John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK

    Andrew J. Pollard

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Olupot-Olupot, P., Maitland, K. (2013). Management of Severe Malaria: Results from Recent Trials. In: Curtis, N., Finn, A., Pollard, A. (eds) Hot Topics in Infection and Immunity in Children IX. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 764. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4726-9_20

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