title: Falciparum malaria in eastern Thailand: a randomized trial of the efficacy of a single dose of mefloquine.
abstract: Reported are the results of a randomized trial of a single dose of mefloquine (15 mg/kg or 25 mg/kg body weight) for the treatment of uncomplicated multidrug-resistant falciparum malaria. Of the 110 adult patients enrolled in the study 57 were randomly assigned to the 15 mg/kg group and 53 to the 25 mg/kg group. The baseline characteristics of the patients did not differ significantly in the two groups, except that those in the 15 mg/kg group had lower haemoglobin levels. Adverse effects following treatment were commoner in the 25 mg/kg group, but not significantly so. Seven patients (6%) did not complete the 42-day follow-up. The parasitological failure rates in the 15 and 25 mg/kg groups were, respectively, 50% (28/56) and 43% (25/53) on day 28, and 62% (33/53) and 56% (28/50) on day 42. Treatment failures were not correlated with the serum mefloquine concentrations on day 2, and 13 out of 19 patients with serum mefloquine concentrations > 2000 micrograms/l on day 2 showed an R response during the follow-up. The mean ratio between the concentrations of the (SR)-(-) and (RS)-(+) enantiomers of mefloquine on day 2 was 3.37, indicating that there are differences in their pharmacokinetics. Re-treatment of patients who showed an R response with seven days of quinine (30 mg.kg-1.day-1)+tetracycline (25 mg.kg-1.day-1) was successful in 93% of the cases.
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Department, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Fontanet
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bergqvist
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hellgren
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rooney
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D015767:Mefloquine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology; D017211:Treatment Failure
chemical_list: D015767:Mefloquine