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New tool promises more accurate antimalarial drug dosing
October 30, 2009Scientists at LSTM have developed a tool to support the development of appropriate age-based dosing regimens for malaria drugs. Weight-based dosing is challenging in many malaria endemic countries because access to formal health services is limited, functioning scales may be scarce and many treatments are given at home using antimalarials bought from shops and street vendors. In these settings, drug doses are calculated using a patient's age to estimate their body weight.
There are no standardised procedures to devise age-based regimens as part of the normal regulatory drug developmental process, yet malaria control programs need dose recommendations that are based on both weight and age. The lack of clear guidance on age-based dosing has resulted in a considerable variation in recommendations, potentially resulting in poor, but widely-used regimens.
The method developed by LSTM's Dr Anja Terlouw and colleagues in collaboration with the World Health Organisation TDR programme, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research helps to determine appropriate age-based dose regimens for both children and adolescents that would result in the smallest number of patients receiving doses above or below the effective dose range.
"A weight-for-age reference data set was compiled and modelled specifically for this purpose using nutritional data that was shared with us by institutes and scientists from over 35 malaria endemic countries. This allowed us to develop a modelled reference distribution that reflects the variation in weight by age of populations in malaria endemic regions of Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America and can therefore provide the optimal translation of weight-based to age-based dosing regimens," explained Dr Anja Terlouw.
It has become increasingly clear that there are similar needs for age-based dosing regimens with other drugs. To address this, the team from LSTM has started work with DNDi and others to explore practical opportunities for work on drugs for other neglected diseases and to improve the availability of evidence-based, safe and effective age-based dosing regimens for populations with limited access to health care.
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
"A weight-for-age reference data set was compiled and modelled specifically for this purpose using nutritional data that was shared with us by institutes and scientists from over 35 malaria endemic countries. This allowed us to develop a modelled reference distribution that reflects the variation in weight by age of populations in malaria endemic regions of Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America and can therefore provide the optimal translation of weight-based to age-based dosing regimens," explained Dr Anja Terlouw.
It has become increasingly clear that there are similar needs for age-based dosing regimens with other drugs. To address this, the team from LSTM has started work with DNDi and others to explore practical opportunities for work on drugs for other neglected diseases and to improve the availability of evidence-based, safe and effective age-based dosing regimens for populations with limited access to health care.
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
Malaria Current Events and Malaria News RSSOn the Trail of a Vaccine for Lyme Disease: Yale Researchers Target Tick Saliva
A protein found in the saliva of ticks helps protect mice from developing Lyme disease, Yale researchers have discovered. The findings, published in the November 19 issue of Cell Host & Microbe, may spur development of a new vaccine against infection from Lyme disease, which is spread through tick bites.
Research calls for better assessment of tests for tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria
A rapid and accurate diagnosis is the first step towards treatment in the fight against infectious disease.
Small nanoparticles bring big improvement to medical imaging
If you're watching the complex processes in a living cell, it is easy to miss something important-especially if you are watching changes that take a long time to unfold and require high-spatial-resolution imaging.
Prioritizing low-cost, simple health measures would save 2.5 million child lives a year
Almost a third of the children under age five who die each year could be saved if governments rebalance health spending to ensure low-cost, simple interventions such as safe water and hygiene, bed nets and basic maternal and newborn care, leading aid agency World Vision said today. Currently, 8.8 million children a year die before age five, most of preventable causes.
Drug industry, nonprofits join forces to fight world's neglected diseases
Drug companies and nonprofit organizations are joining forces to develop new drugs and vaccines to target so-called "neglected" diseases that claim millions of lives in the developing world each year.
U.S. and European Experts Applaud Creation of New Transatlantic Task Force on Global Antibiotic Resistance Threat
Experts on both sides of the Atlantic applaud President Barack Obama and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, representing the European Union (EU) Presidency, for establishing a transatlantic task force to address antibiotic resistance, an urgent and growing problem that threatens patient safety and public health worldwide.
1930s drug slows tumor growth
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DNA barcodes: Creative new uses span health, fraud, smuggling, history, more
The scientific ability to quickly and accurately identify species through DNA "barcoding" is being embraced and applied by a growing legion of global authorities - from medical and agricultural researchers to police and customs authorities to palaeontologists and others.
PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative shares strategy for developing 'next-generation' malaria vaccines
Marking its tenth anniversary year, the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) today unveiled a new strategy that sets the stage for an aggressive push targeting the long-term goal of eliminating and eradicating malaria. Malaria is one of the world's deadliest infectious diseases, killing nearly 900,000 people a year, most of them children in sub-Saharan Africa.
Global challenges and opportunities in fighting HIV/AIDS and neglected diseases
Responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and tackling so-called neglected tropical diseases are the focus of the November/December 2009 edition of Health Affairs.
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