Effects of mefloquine and artesunate mefloquine on the emergence, clearance and sex ratio of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes in malarious children

Table 1 Demographic data and immediate therapeutic response of children with P falciparum gametocytaemia treated with mefloquine or artesunate-mefloquine

	Values* for the following treatment groups			P. value
Parameter	Artesunate-Mefloquine	Mefloquine	All
No. of patients	44	64	108	-
Male/Female	22/22	32/32	54/54	-
Age (year)	6.1 ± 3.1	6.9 ± 2.8	6.5 ± 2.9	0.18
	1-13	0.8-13	0.8-13
No. < 5 years	14	12	26
Weight (kg)	18.2 ± 7.1	19.4 ± 5.6	18.9 ± 6.3	0.31
	8-46	7-33	7-46
Height (cm)	109.2 ± 19.4	115.2 ± 16.1	112.7 ± 17.7	0.09
	65-141	74-147	65-147
Duration of illness (d)	2.5 ± 0.9	3.1 ± 1.4	2.9 ± 1.3	0.01
	1-5	1-7	1-7
Body temperature (°C)	38.3 ± 1.2	38.2 ± 1.2	38.2 ± 1.2	0.6
	36.2-40.5	35.2-40.5	35.2-40.8
Parasite count (/μL)
Geometric mean	29280	27760	28590	0.9
Range	2200-884571	2400-520000	2200-884571
Gametocyte density (/μL)
Geometric mean	18	28	23	0.24
Range	6-216	6-468	6-468
Fever clearance time (d)
	1.3 ± 0.6 (n = 30)	1.3 ± 0.8 (n = 40)	1.3 ± 0.7	0.86
	1-3	1-5	1-5
Parasite clearance time (d)
	1.4 ± 0.5	1.9 ± 0.8	1.7 ± 0.8	0.003
	1-3	1-4	1-4

ISSN: 1475-2875