(Randomised controlled trial of aminosidine (paromomycin) v sodium stibogluconate for treating visceral leishmaniasis in North Bihar, India)

Bihar in north east India accounts for half the annual worldwide cases of visceral leishmaniasis (a disease transmitted by sandfly bites). Dr P Olliaro of the World Health Organisation worked alongside a local medical team in Bihar to research the efficacy of the drug aminosidine and they report the findings of their study in this week's BMJ. The authors found it was significantly more effective (150 per cent) in producing a cure than the more traditional medication, sodium stibogluconate, to which the disease is becoming increasingly resistant. An additional advantage of aminosidine is that it lowers the overall burden to the health system, owing to the fact that the drug is cheaper than regular treatments and the shorter period of hospitalisation required.

Contact:

Dr P Olliaro, Manager, Steering Committee on Drugs for Malaria (CHEMAL), World Health Organisation, UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Disease, 20 Avenue Appia, Geneva, Switzerland [email protected]