Joseph Osarfo
University
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
PhD Title
Efficacy, safety and tolerability of dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine for treatment of uncomplicated malaria in pregnancy in ghana.
Abstract
Malaria in pregnancy poses enormous public health challenges, contributing to significant maternal and infant deaths yearly. Adverse outcomes include maternal anaemia and low birthweight. Down regulation of cellular immunity increases pregnant women's susceptibility to malaria and mediate these adverse outcomes.
The World Health Organization recommends treatment with artemisinin-combination therapy. Ghana uses quinine for malaria in first trimester pregnancies while artesunate-amodiaquine (AS-AQ) and quinine again are used in later trimesters. Recent amendments added artesunate-lumefantrine and dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DHA-PPQ) to the antimalarials used in the country. The excellent safety and efficacy profile of DHA-PPQ is documented in several studies. DHA-PPQ, though not specified for use in pregnancy, is accessible and available and may inadvertently be used to treat malaria in pregnancy. Paucity of data on DHA-PPQ use in pregnancy makes it pertinent to study its safety, tolerability and efficacy in pregnancy.
We propose an open label, randomized controlled non-inferiority comparison of DHA-PPQ and AS-AQ for treatment of uncomplicated malaria in pregnancy in second and third trimesters to assess safety, tolerability and efficacy of DHA-PPQ. Outcomes of interest include PCR-corrected cure rates at days 28 and 42, maternal haemoglobin levels at days 14 and 42, prevalence of congenital abnormalities and pregnancy wastage. Proportions and percentages will be described at 95% Confidence Intervals and compared using chi-square tests. Parametric and non-parametric tests of significance will be applied as appropriate to determine significance of differences in outcomes between the treatment groups.
Background
I qualified as a medical officer from KNUST in 2003 and obtained a Masters degree in Public Health from the same in 2008, having submitted a dissertation on “determinants of under-five mortality in Wa West district, Ghana. I have delivered both clinical and public health services, working in three different district hospitals since 2003 and this has shaped my interest in research and community medicine. My academic interests lie mainly in helping to evolve effective interventions to improve maternal and child welfare, malaria in pregnancy and malaria/HIV/AIDS interactions. My hobbies are reading, soccer, and listening to music.