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Query: UMLS:C0024530 (malaria)
 44,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Patients with falciparum malaria were studied in Thailand, an area of known chloroquine resistance. The patients were unselected and some had severe malaria, and they were randomly assigned to one of two sequential regimes. A short course of quinine (average 4 doses, equivalent to 2 g base) followed by a single dose of pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine (Fansidar) cured 92% of patients (36 out of 39), while a short course of quinine followed by a single 1-5-dose of mefloquine cured all of the 35 patients who could be followed up. Gastrointestinal side effects were minimal if at least 12 hours elapsed between the last dose of quinine and the mefloquine. Sequential quinine and mefloquine is the most effective treatment for patients with chloroquine-resistant falciparum malaria, including those with severe or complicated disease. Mefloquine, however, is not commercially available, and the similar regimen using Fansidar is almost as effective.
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PMID:Sequential treatment with quinine and mefloquine or quinine and pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine for falciparum malaria. 32 37

At least four doses of quinine followed by a single dose of mefloquine or by a single dose of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine are two highly effective regimens for chloroquine-resistant falciparum malaria. Mefloquine alone is valuable in ambulant patients. Chloroquine-sensitive falciparum malaria can be treated with a course of chloroquine. Vivax and all other types of malaria should be treated with sequential chloroquine and primaquine. Quinine, by intravenous infusion, is the most effective drug for severe falciparum malaria. The optimum intravenous dose varies between 5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg administered over four hours. Intravenous or oral quinine should be administered about every 12 hours and the total daily dose of quinine should rarely exceed 20 mg/kg. Intravenous fluid input should be controlled in falciparum malaria to prevent pulmonary oedema. Established renal failure is best treated by dialysis. The value of adrenocortical steroids for falciparum coma has not been established. Fresh blood transfusion may be helpful in small doses for severe anaemia and to replace clotting factors. Anticoagulants, such as heparin, should not be used in falciparum malaria.
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PMID:The treatment of malaria. 76 37

Physicians enrolled 127 patients who were admitted to the Bangkok Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Thailand with acute, uncomplicated falciparum malaria between January-May 1991 into a randomized clinical trial of 3 oral treatments: artesunate, mefloquine, and artesunate followed by mefloquine. At the end of 28 days, 88% of patients who received only artesunate (total dose 600 mg), 81% of those who received only mefloquine (total dose 1250 mg), and all patients who received both artesunate and mefloquine were cured. Artesunate reduced the parasite count by 90% within 24 hours of 1st treatment. The 2 groups that received artesunate experienced considerably more rapid reduction in parasitemia and in fever than the group that received only mefloquine (p.002). Mefloquine was more adept than artesunate at clearing residual parasites. Mefloquine-treated patients experienced slightly more headaches and dizziness while they still had malaria than the other 2 groups. The physicians believed that these symptoms could actually have been due to the acute malaria infection. Patients who were on the sequential artesunate-mefloquine regime experienced more nausea and vomiting than the other groups, but the differences were insignificant. The combination therapy with artesunate and mefloquine was very effective and patients with acute, uncomplicated malaria tolerated it well.
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PMID:Randomised trial of artesunate and mefloquine alone and in sequence for acute uncomplicated falciparum malaria. 134 54

Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Thailand is resistant to available antimalarial drugs, which necessitates the search for alternative drugs. In a clinical trial mefloquine 1250 mg in divided doses was compared with oral artemether at 700 mg total dose given over 5 days in acute uncomplicated falciparum malaria. 46 adult men, aged 15-50 years and weighing 45-65 kg, with acute uncomplicated falciparum malaria, no history of liver or kidney diseases, and not history of tasking antimalarials for this episode of illness were recruited at the Bangkok Hospitak for Tropical Diseases. 12 were treated with mefloquine and 34 with oral artemether. Hospital follow-up was 28 days for the artemether group and 42 days for the mefloquine group. Parasites did not clear from the blood of 2 patients in the mefloquine group, although there was a decrease in parasitemia. The other 10 patients in the mefloquine group has a good initial response with mean parasite clearance times and fever clearance times of 64 and 27 hours respectively. Oral artemether gave a significantly faster parasite clearance time than mefloquine (30 vs. 64 hours), and a significantly better cure rate (97 vs. 64%) with fewer episodes of dizziness and vomiting. Oral artemether at 700 mg given over 5 days is effective and well tolerated. The cure rate with this regimen is higher than that reported with 600 mg intramuscular artemether given over 5 days. Mefloquine 1250 mg has a cure rate of 80-84% but it produces side effects such as vomiting. The treatment with artemether should last at least 5 days with a dose above 600 mg for a cure rate approaching 100%. This treatment is still likely to be more acceptable to patients than the combination regimen of quinine plus tetracycline for 7 days. These findings suggest that neither artemether nor mefloquine is effective against the intrahepatic stage of Plasmodium vivax. Primaquine is the choice of drug for radical cure.
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PMID:Comparison of oral artemether and mefloquine in acute uncomplicated falciparum malaria. 135 18

Several areas of clinical concern and investigation have emerged over the past year in the malaria field. Mefloquine prophylaxis has required a change in its dosing regimen. Continued monitoring for potential mefloquine toxicity has shown this agent to be safe for use for many populations, but not routinely for pregnant women or for young children. Chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium vixax may be geographically limited currently, but its presence in Irian Jaya has serious implications, should be problem spread. The currently available fluoroquinolone antibiotics possess antimalarial activity but they have not proven to be clinically dependable for the treatment of resistant Plasmodium falciparum infections. However, continued investigation of both their mechanisms of action and efficacy should not be abandoned. Adjunctive measures for the control of mosquito vectors and the prevention of human contact with mosquitoes assume greater importance as both pharmacological prophylaxis and therapy for malaria infections become increasingly difficult. Health professionals who advise travelers to endemic regions should emphasize the use of safe topical repellents and residual insecticides, which can be impregnated into bed netting and clothing.
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PMID:Trends and controversies in the prophylaxis and treatment of malaria. 136 30

In recent years, introduction of new and more effective agents has improved the overall therapy for parasitic infections. This field, however, is still plagued by numerous problems, including the development of resistance to antimicrobial agents (especially with malaria), unavailability of agents in the United States or lack of approval by the Food and Drug Administration, and major toxicities or lack of experience in pregnant women and children, which limits use in these groups of patients. Widespread resistance of Plasmodium falciparum to chloroquine and other agents has complicated the treatment and prophylaxis of this type of malaria. A combination of quinine and Fansidar is usually effective oral therapy for falciparum malaria; quinidine may be administered if intravenous therapy is needed. Mefloquine, which is currently recommended for prophylaxis against chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum, is also effective for single-dose oral treatment, although this regimen has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Metronidazole has been widely used for treatment of gastroenteritis due to Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia lamblia (not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the latter) and is considered safe and effective. A new macrolide, azithromycin, has been reported to be effective for cryptosporidiosis in experimental animals; currently, no effective therapy is available for human infections. Combinations of sulfonamides with other antifolates, trimethoprim or pyrimethamine, are recommended therapy for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia or toxoplasmosis, respectively. Therapies for the various types of leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis are complex, often toxic, and often of limited efficacy. The benzimidazoles are effective for roundworm infections, although thiabendazole has severe toxic effects. The recent introduction of ivermectin has revolutionized the treatment and control of onchocerciasis. Another relatively new agent, praziquantel, is a true broad-spectrum anthelmintic agent that is effective against most trematodes, many adult cestodes, and larval cestodes as well (especially cysticerci of Taenia solium).
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PMID:Antiparasitic agents. 154 96

Since the time of its introduction in 1985, mefloquine (Lariam) has been used extensively for malaria prophylaxis. The international Drug Safety Department of the manufacturer gathered all spontaneous adverse drug reactions reported in association with this drug from all available sources and monitored the literature on a world-wide basis. The serious neurologic and psychiatric adverse events reported in association with Lariam prophylaxis from the time of introduction until May 1991 were reviewed. During this time, 59 serious neurologic and psychiatric adverse reactions were reported as follows: 26 convulsions, 12 depressions, 20 psychotic episodes, and one toxic encephalopathy; none were fatal. While spontaneous reporting systems are biased by under-reporting, they provide useful instruments for analysis of clinical risks factors. The neurologic and psychiatric adverse events reported in association with mefloquine prophylaxis were of the same types as those reported with other quinine derivative antimalarials. The precise mechanism of serious neurologic and psychiatric reactions is unknown. The only patient population identified at this time as having an increased risk of developing these serious reactions to mefloquine are persons with a history of seizures or manic-depressive illness. Mefloquine prophylaxis should not be prescribed to such patients.
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PMID:Mefloquine prophylaxis: an overview of spontaneous reports of severe psychiatric reactions and convulsions. 159 72

Mefloquine was introduced into Thailand in 1985 for the treatment of Plasmodium falciparum infection. Recently, clinical failure of mefloquine was observed in southeastern Thailand, where an epidemic of falciparum malaria occurred. Beginning in 1984 and continuing until 1989, in vitro monitoring of P. falciparum isolates from Borai, a border district in the southeastern part of the country, showed a progressive decrease in mefloquine sensitivity until 1989; in 1990, the degree and prevalence of resistance accelerated. A similar pattern of resistance was observed for halofantrine, an antimalarial drug not yet commercially available in Thailand. In vitro sensitivity patterns of mefloquine and halofantrine elsewhere in the country remained relatively unchanged. These observations suggest a serious deterioration in available drugs for the treatment of falciparum malaria in southeastern Thailand that is predicted to spread throughout the country and Southeast Asia.
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PMID:Emergence of multidrug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum in Thailand: in vitro tracking. 163 77

A case of recrudescent falciparum malaria after halofantrine treatment is described. The patient contracted Plasmodium falciparum in Ivory Coast and was treated with halofantrine. Plasma levels of halofantrine and its metabolite were adequate. Thirty-one days after treatment, the patient was rehospitalized with symptoms of malaria. Recrudescence was confirmed by microscopic examination, indicating a type RI resistance to halofantrine. Mefloquine was given to treat recrudescent malaria. The parasite was susceptible to chloroquine and quinine in vitro but displayed elevated values of 50% inhibitory concentration for mefloquine and halofantrine. The case reminds us that chloroquine still has an important therapeutic role against African strains of P. falciparum and that mefloquine and halofantrine should be reserved for multi drug-resistant P. falciparum.
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PMID:Type RI resistance to halofantrine in West Africa. 166 77

Mefloquine is the treatment of choice for uncomplicated multiresistant falciparum malaria, and in combination with sulphadoxine and pyrimethamine (MSP) at a single dose of 15/30/1.5 mg/kg, respectively, has been used in Thailand for the past 6 years. In 1985-86, MSP cured over 98% of 5192 patients with falciparum malaria on the Thai-Burmese border. 4 years later we studied the efficacy of MSP in 395 patients at the same location. The cure rate at 28 days was 70.8% (95% Cl 67-77.2%). The proportion of early treatment failures (in whom parasitaemia did not clear) had risen from 0.27 to 3.7% (p less than 0.0001). Failure rates were 50% in children under 6 years old, 29% in the 6-15 age group, and 19% in adults (p less than 0.001). Patients with early treatment failure were retreated with 25 mg/kg mefloquine, but 27% had a further recrudescence of infection within 28 days. The mean (95% Cl) serum mefloquine concentration at the time of first recrudescence was 638 (546-730) ng/ml, a value previously associated with successful treatment. Mefloquine concentrations were no lower in those with recrudescent infections than in age-matched successfully treated patients, suggesting that pharmacokinetic factors were not responsible for the high treatment-failure rate. Plasmodium falciparum has developed resistance to mefloquine rapidly, despite the addition of sulphadoxine and pyrimethamine and strict control of drug administration. The MSP combination should now be abandoned.
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PMID:Mefloquine-resistant falciparum malaria on the Thai-Burmese border. 167 99


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