RESUMEN
"Objectives: Sudanese health authority adopted a new antimalarial drug policy in response to the reported high level of chloroquine resistance. ""Artesunate+ sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine"" (ASP) and ""artemether/lumefantrine"" (A/L) are recommended as first and second lines for the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria respectively. This study aims to evaluate the clinical and parasitological response to A/L and to report any side effects related to the drug in children living in high transmission areas. Methods: This evaluation of the clinical and parasitological response to directly observed treatment with 6 doses A/L following WHO protocol for monitoring antimalarial drugs efficacy. Giemsa-stained thick and thin blood smears were examined microscopically. Results: A total of 75 (40.8) patients met the inclusion criteria; of them 70 (97.2) patients showed adequate clinical and parasitological response (radical cure); 2 (2.8) patients were classified as early treatment failure and 3 (4) patients were lost to be followed-up by day 3. No progression to severe illness or danger signs occurred for any patient during the study. Conclusion: The main outcome of study was that A/L was found to be highly effective against Plasmodium falciparum uncomplicated malaria; well tolerated by children with no reported serious side effects. Dramatic decrease in parasites density and fever were observed in most of the cases by day 3 of treatment."