Test Efficacy Study on the Recommended Antimalarial Drugs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Inclusion Criteria: * children aged 6 to 59 months * monoinfection with Plasmodium falciparum with asexual parasite count of 2,000 to 200,000/µL * axillary temperature ≥ 37.5 °C * ability to swallow oral medication * ability and willingness to comply with the protocol for the duration of the study and to comply with the study visit schedule; * informed consent from a parent or a guardian * living within the study catchment area * absence of severe manutrition * absence of infectious diseases that can be responsible of fever * absence of allergy to the study drugs Exclusion Criteria: * presence of general danger signs or signs of severe falciparum malaria according to the definitions of WHO; * body weight \< 5kg * hemoglobin level \< 5g/ dL or hematocrit \< 15% * presence of severe malnutrition * presence of febrile conditions due to diseases other than malaria (e.g. measles, acute lower respiratory tract infection, severe diarrhoea with dehydration) or other known underlying chronic or severe diseases (e.g. cardiac, renal and hepatic diseases, HIV/AIDS); * regular medication, which may interfere with antimalarial pharmacokinetics; * malaria treatment within 2 days prior to recruitment * history of hypersensitivity reactions or contraindications to any of the medicines being tested or used as alternative treatment; * body weight below 5 kg