Is Artemether and Lumefantrine safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what NIH LactMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's authority on medicines and breastfeeding, reports about Artemether and Lumefantrine. This is a summary of that source — not our own verdict.
Effects on the breastfed infant
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Effects on milk supply
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Levels in milk
Maternal Levels. The excretion of artemether and lumefantrine in breastmilk was estimated from average maximum serum concentrations after a standard 6-dose regimen of artemether 40 mg and lumefantrine 240 mg daily, assuming a M/P ratio of 1.04 for artemether and 1.3 for lumefantrine. The authors estimated that a fully breastfed infant would receive 0.03 mg daily of artemether or less than 0.4% of the recommended dose for a 5 kg infant, and 5 mg daily of lumefantrine or less than 10% of the recommended dose for a 5 kg infant.[ 2 ] A physiologically based pharmacokinetic model of the active artemether metabolite, dihydroartemesin, estimated that it has an RID of 0.2%.[ 3 ] Infant Levels. Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Alternatives LactMed lists
“No published information” means the studies do not exist yet — not that Artemether and Lumefantrine is known to be harmful, and not that it is known to be safe. Your prescriber or pharmacist can weigh your baby's age and whether a better-studied alternative would do the same job. Worth asking before stopping a medicine you need.
Source: NIH LactMed (National Library of Medicine).
Educational summary of an authoritative source — not medical advice. Never start, stop, or change a medicine while breastfeeding without confirming with your doctor.