DSpace Repository

Safety and effectiveness of first line eflornithine for Trypanosoma brucei gambiense sleeping sickness in Sudan: cohort study

Show simple item record

dc.contributor Epicentre, Paris, France; Médecins Sans Frontières, Paris, France
dc.creator Priotto, G
dc.creator Pinoges, L
dc.creator Badi Fursa, I
dc.creator Burke, B
dc.creator Nicolay, N
dc.creator Grillet, G
dc.creator Hewison, C
dc.creator Balasegaram, M
dc.date 2008-03-05
dc.date.accessioned 2017-01-31T07:10:48Z
dc.date.available 2017-01-31T07:10:48Z
dc.identifier BMJ 2008;336:705-708
dc.identifier 09598138
dc.identifier 14685833
dc.identifier 18321960
dc.identifier 10.1136/bmj.39485.592674.BE
dc.identifier http://hdl.handle.net/10144/25192
dc.identifier http://fieldresearch.msf.org/msf/handle/10144/25192
dc.identifier BMJ/British Medical Journal
dc.identifier PMC2276259
dc.identifier PMC2276259
dc.identifier PMC2276259
dc.identifier.uri http://dspace.mediu.edu.my:8181/xmlui/handle/10144/25192
dc.description Objective: To assess the safety and effectiveness of eflornithine as first line treatment for human African trypanosomiasis. Design: Cohort study. Setting: Control programme in Ibba, southern Sudan. Participants: 1055 adults and children newly diagnosed with second stage disease in a 16 month period. Main outcome measures: Deaths, severe drug reactions, and cure at 24 months. Results: 1055 patients received eflornithine for 14 days (400 mg/kg/day in adults and 600 mg/kg/day in a subgroup of 96 children). Overall, 2824 drug reactions (2.7 per patient) occurred during hospital stay, 1219 (43.2%) after the first week. Severe reactions affected 138 (13.1%) patients (mainly seizures, fever, diarrhoea, and bacterial infections), leading to 15 deaths. Risk factors for severe reactions included cerebrospinal fluid leucocyte counts ≥100x109/l (adults: odds ratio 2.6, 95% confidence interval 1.5 to 4.6), seizures (adults: 5.9, 2.0 to 13.3), and stupor (children: 9.3, 2.5 to 34.2). Children receiving higher doses did not experience increased toxicity. Follow-up data were obtained for 924 (87.6%) patients at any follow-up but for only 533 (50.5%) at 24 months. Of 924 cases followed, 16 (1.7%) died during treatment, 70 (7.6%) relapsed, 15 (1.6%) died of disease, 403 (43.6%) were confirmed cured, and 420 (45.5%) were probably cured. The probability of event free survival at 24 months was 0.88 (0.86 to 0.91). Most (65.8%, 52/79) relapses and disease related deaths occurred after 12 months. Risk factors for relapse included being male (incidence rate ratio 2.42, 1.47 to 3.97) and cerebrospinal fluid leucocytosis: 20-99x109/l (2.35, 1.36 to 4.06); ≥100x109/l (1.87, 1.07 to 3.27). Higher doses did not yield better effectiveness among children (0.87 v 0.85, P=0.981). Conclusions: Eflornithine shows acceptable safety and effectiveness as first line treatment for human African trypanosomiasis. Relapses did occur more than 12 months after treatment. Higher doses in children were well tolerated but showed no advantage in effectiveness.
dc.language en
dc.relation http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/bmj.39485.592674.BEv1
dc.relation http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39485.592674.BE
dc.rights Published by: BMJ Publishing Group Ltd Archived on this site with kind permission from BMJ, [url]http://www.bmj.com/[/url]
dc.subject Sleeping Sickness
dc.subject Sudan
dc.title Safety and effectiveness of first line eflornithine for Trypanosoma brucei gambiense sleeping sickness in Sudan: cohort study
dc.type Article


Files in this item

Files Size Format View

There are no files associated with this item.

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record

Search DSpace


Advanced Search

Browse

My Account