Efficacy and risk of harms of repeat ivermectin mass drug administrations for control of malaria (RIMDAMAL): a cluster-randomised trial

Publication date: Available online 14 March 2019Source: The LancetAuthor(s): Brian D Foy, Haoues Alout, Jonathan A Seaman, Sangeeta Rao, Tereza Magalhaes, Martina Wade, Sunil Parikh, Dieudonné D Soma, André B Sagna, Florence Fournet, Hannah C Slater, Roland Bougma, François Drabo, Abdoulaye Diabaté, A Gafar V Coulidiaty, Nöel Rouamba, Roch K DabiréSummaryBackgroundIvermectin is widely used in mass drug administrations for controlling neglected parasitic diseases, and can be lethal to malaria vectors that bite treated humans. Therefore, it could be a new tool to reduce plasmodium transmission. We tested the hypothesis that frequently repeated mass administrations of ivermectin to village residents would reduce clinical malaria episodes in children and would be well tolerated with minimal harms.MethodsWe invited villages (clusters) in Burkina Faso to participate in a single-blind (outcomes assessor), parallel-assignment, two-arm, cluster-randomised trial over the 2015 rainy season. Villages were assigned (1:1) by random draw to either the intervention group or the control group. In both groups, all eligible participants who consented to the treatment and were at least 90 cm in height received single oral doses of ivermectin (150–200 μg/kg) and albendazole (400 mg), and those in the intervention group received five further doses of ivermectin alone at 3-week intervals thereafter over the 18-week treatment phase. The primary outcome was cumulative incidence of uncomplica...
Source: The Lancet - Category: General Medicine Source Type: research