SINGLE-DOSE TREATMENT OF FALCIPARUM-MALARIA WITH MEFLOQUINE - FIELD STUDIES WITH DIFFERENT DOSES IN SEMI-IMMUNE ADULTS AND CHILDREN IN BURMA

  • 1 January 1982
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 60  (6) , 913-917
Abstract
Different doses of mefloquine (20 and 30 mg/kg of body wt in children, and 75 and 1000 mg in adults) were tested in controlled clinical trials in 89 children and 60 adults who were semi-immune carriers of Plasmodium falciparum. There was no significant difference in the efficacy of the 2 doses, either in the children or in the adults. An RI-type resistance was found in 1 adult, when recrudescence occurred on day 7, and in 4 children, who showed recrudescence on day 14. In all 5 patients, spontaneous disappearance of parasites was observed at further parasitological checks, indicating a prolonged action. One patient who vomited after taking the drug was successfully retreated with mefloquine on day 14. Nausea, giddiness and vomiting are the 3 symptoms most frequently attributed to mefloquine. The incidence of nausea and giddiness was similar in both dosage groups, but the adults in the higher dosage group had a significantly higher frequency of vomiting than those in the low-dose group. In view of the rapid and reliable action of a single dose, mefloquine seems to be the drug of choice for treatment of cases of falciparum malaria that are resistant to 4-amino-quinolines and to sulfonamide-pyrimethamine combinations. A dose of 20 mg/kg of body wt for children and 750 mg for adults is sufficient for treatment of semi-immune persons.