Suakoko

Lassa fever is a viral hemorrhagic fever causing significant deaths in West Africa, with a 12% in-hospital mortality rate. It spreads mainly through exposure to rodent excreta and sometimes from person to person, leading to hospital outbreaks. Current treatment with ribavirin has concerns about safety, effectiveness, and cost, highlighting the urgent need for new therapies. This multinational phase II-III trial aims to compare new or repurposed drugs against the standard care for hospitalized patients with confirmed Lassa fever. The trial evaluates multiple treatment arms including oral favipiravir at two dosing levels, intravenous ribavirin using the Irrua regimen, combination therapy of favipiravir plus ribavirin, ribavirin with dexamethasone, and two dosing regimens of ARN-75039. Treatments are administered over 10 days during hospitalization. The study uses an open-label, randomized design to compare the efficacy and safety of investigational drugs versus standard care. Participants will be hospitalized for 10 days with follow-up for 28 days. Researchers will assess death, organ failure, and other clinical outcomes such as kidney and respiratory function. Safety and tolerability will be monitored throughout treatment and follow-up. Virological and biological parameters will be measured at multiple time points, along with pharmacokinetics studies. The trial will help determine optimal dosing and compare outcomes across treatment groups over the study period.