Common side effects include loss of appetite, nausea, abdominal pain, sleepiness, trouble sleeping, and cough.[6] Safety in pregnancy is not clear; however, the medication may be used if others are not possible.[6] It is believed to be safe for use during breastfeeding.[6] Artesunate and amodiaquine are both antimalarial medication; however, work by different mechanisms.[6]
Early clinical trials showed that a once-a-day dosage was effective.[9] It was subsequently clinically shown to be equally effective as artemether/lumefantrine,[10] although it is likely to be more effective in the field due to its simpler once-a-day dosage compared to artemether/lumefantrine twice-per-day dosage.
Society and culture
Artesunate/amodiaquine was commercially launched in 2007 as an affordable treatment for malaria, devised by DNDi in partnership with Sanofi-Aventis.[7] ASAQ was handed over to the MMV Access and Product Management Team in May 2015.[11]
^ abcWorld Health Organization (2019). World Health Organization model list of essential medicines: 21st list 2019. Geneva: World Health Organization. hdl:10665/325771. WHO/MVP/EMP/IAU/2019.06. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
^Rosenthal PJ, Kamya M (2015). "Malaria". In Goldman L, Schafer AI (eds.). Goldman-Cecil Medicine. Elsevier Health Sciences. p. 2112. ISBN9780323322850. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20.