Guidelines for Field Surveys of the Quality of Medicines: A Proposal

Paul Newton and colleagues propose guidelines for conducting and reporting field surveys of the quality of medicines

The epidemiology of postpartum malaria: a systematic review

Pregnant women are more susceptible to malaria than their non-pregnant counterparts. Less is known about the risk of malaria in the postpartum period. The epidemiology of postpartum malaria was systematically reviewed. Eleven articles fitted the inclusion criteria. Of the 10 studies that compared malaria data from the postpartum period with pregnancy data, nine studies suggested that the risk for malaria infection decreased after delivery. All three studies that compared postpartum data with non-pregnant non-postpartum women concluded that the risk did not return to pre-pregnancy levels immediately after delivery. The results of this review have to be carefully interpreted, as the majority of studies were not designed to study postpartum malaria, and there was large variability in study designs and reported outcomes. Current evidence suggests an effort should be made to detect and radically cure malaria during pregnancy so that women do not enter the postpartum period with residual parasites

Quantitation of artemether in pharmaceutical raw material and injections by high performance liquid chromatography

The quantitation of artemether in both pharmaceutical raw material and injections was carried out by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ultraviolet detection. A Zorbax C18 column (150 x 4.6 mm; 5 &#956;m), at 30 °C, and a mobile phase composed of acetonitrile and water (70:30), at a flow rate of 1ml/min, were used. The detection wavelength was 216 nm and the injection volume was 20 &#956;L. The method proved to be linear (r²=0.9999), precise (RSD < 20% for intra-day and inter-day precision), accurate and selective regarding possible impurities and excipients of the samples. The detection and quantitation limits were 8 &#956;g/mL and 25 &#956;g/mL, respectively. The artemether content obtained in the raw material analysis was 99.26% and in the injections, 102.08%. The optimized and validated method may be successfully employed to perform routine quality control analyses.<br>A quantificação de artemeter em matéria-prima farmacêutica e solução injetável foi realizada por cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência (CLAE) com detecção na região do ultravioleta. Empregou-se coluna Zorbax C18 (150 x 4.6 mm; 5 &#956;m), mantida a 30 °C, e fase móvel composta por acetonitrila e água (70:30), com fluxo de 1 ml/min. A detecção foi realizada a 216 nm, e o volume de injeção foi 20 &#956;l. O método se mostrou linear (r²=0,9999), preciso (DPR < 2,0% para precisão intra-dia e inter-dias) e seletivo em relação a possíveis impurezas e excipientes das amostras. Os limites de detecção e quantificação obtidos foram 8 &#956;g/mL e 25 &#956;g/mL, respectivamente. O teor médio de artemeter obtido na análise da matéria-prima farmacêutica foi 99,26% e na solução injetável, 102,08%. O método otimizado e validado pode ser utilizado com sucesso para análises rotineiras em controle de qualidade

Life cycle, population dynamics and schistosome infection in Bulinus spp from a crater lake in the South West Province, Cameroon

No Abstract. JCAS Vol. 6 (2) 2006: pp. 99-10