Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

Papers

Rectal artemether versus intravenous quinine for the treatment of cerebral malaria in children in Uganda: randomised clinical trial

BMJ 2005; 330 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.330.7487.334 (Published 10 February 2005) Cite this as: BMJ 2005;330:334

Rapid Response:

Artemether in cerebral malaria

The authors should describe clinical condition as far as parasitemia is concerned. Artemether is definitely better, as proved by various studies, however, its cost and availability is limited. Hence, Quinine is the drug of choice in cerebral malaria. if child continues to have symptoms and clearance of parasitemia is poor or not at all, it is always advisable to start artemether. Rectal artemether may not be acceptable to older children. However, it is definitely going to be beneficial in children presenting in shock stage.

Competing interests: None declared

Competing interests: No competing interests

16 February 2005
Prem Lochan Prasad
Consultant Pediatrics
India