Hemolysis after Oral Artemisinin Combination Therapy for Uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum Malaria

Abstract

Episodes of delayed hemolysis 2–6 weeks after treatment of severe malaria with intravenous artesunate have been described. We performed a prospective observational study of patients with uncomplicated malaria to investigate whether posttreatment hemolysis also occurs after oral artemisinin-based combination therapy. Eight of 20 patients with uncomplicated malaria who were given oral artemisinin-based combination therapy met the definition of posttreatment hemolysis (low haptoglobin level and increased lactate dehydrogenase level on day 14). Five patients had hemolysis persisting for 1 month. Patients with posttreatment hemolysis had a median decrease in hemoglobin level of 1.3 g/dL (interquartile range 0.3–2.0 g/dL) in the posttreatment period, and patients without posttreatment hemolysis had a median increase of 0.3 g/dL (IQR −0.1 to 0.7 g/dL; p = 0.002). These findings indicate a need for increased vigilance for hemolytic events in malaria patients, particularly those with predisposing factors for anemia.

Keywords

• malaria
• uncomplicated malaria
• Plasmodium falciparum
• parasites
• hemolysis
• artemisinin