Dr. Grant Dorsey of the University of California-San Francisco and colleagues found a combination of artemether and lumefantrine was effective in producing a lower rate of treatment failure as compared with other combination therapies.

Malaria is one of the leading causes of death in children in Africa, scientists said, noting one of the reasons the control of malaria has been difficult is because of increasing resistance to some drugs. In response to that problem, combination therapies have replaced monotherapies as the recommended treatments for uncomplicated malaria. However, it is not clear which treatment regimens are most effective.

Dorsey's team evaluated the three leading available combination regimens for treating uncomplicated falciparum malaria, comparing efficacy, safety, and tolerability. The therapies were amodiaquine plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, amodiaquine plus artesunate, and artemether-lumefantrine.

The study is detailed in the current malaria-theme issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.