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Abstract Background Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is the treatment of choice for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in most areas of the world, where malaria is endemic, including Sudan. However, few published data are available on the use of ACT for treatment of P. vivax malaria. Methods This study was conducted at a health centre in Kassala, eastern Sudan, from October to December 2011. Patients with uncomplicated P. vivax malaria received artemether-lumefantrine (AL) tablets (containing 20mg artemether and 120 mg lumefantrine) and were monitored for 28 days. Results Out of the 43 cases enrolled in this study, 38 completed the 28-day follow-up. Their mean age was 25.1 years (SD: 1.5). On day 3 following AL treatment, all of the patients were afebrile and aparasitaemic. By day 28, all 38 patients exhibited adequate clinical and parasitological responses to AL treatment. The cure rate was 100% and 88.4% for the per protocol analysis andfor the intention to treat analysis, respectively. Mild adverse effects (nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness and/or rash) that resolved spontaneously were observed in four (10.5%) of the patients. Conclusion AL combination therapy was fully effective for treatment of P. vivax malaria in the study in eastern Sudan. Trial registration Trial. Gov: NCT01625871

Abstract Background Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is a major health problem during pregnancy and it has adverse effects on the mother and the newborn. Red cell distribution width (RDW), which is a quantitative measure for red cell size variation (anisocytosis), is a predictor of IDA. Little is known regarding RDW and IDA during pregnancy. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted at the antenatal clinic of Khartoum Hospital, Sudan, to determine the performance of RDW in the diagnosis of IDA using serum ferritin as a gold standard. Results Among 194 pregnant women with a gestational period of 21.4 ± 6.5 weeks, 57 (29.4%) had IDA according to serum ferritin levels (14.5). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of RDW where serum ferritin was the gold standard were 43.8% (95% CI: 31.4–57.0%), 73.7% (95% CI: 65.8–80.5%), 41.0% (95% CI: 29.2–53.6%), and 76.0% (95% CI: 68.1–82.6%), respectively. Conclusions In this study, we found that RDW has a poor performance in diagnosing IDA among pregnant women compared with serum ferritin as the gold standard. Virtual slides The virtual slides for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/1721072967826303