Susceptibility of Plasmodium falciparum strains to mefloquine in an urban area in Senegal

A total of 47 nonimmune febrile patients from Pikine, Senegal, with > 1000 Plasmoduim falciparum asexual forms per [mu]l whole blood were given 12.5 mg per kg body weight of mefloquine in a single oral dose and were followed up daily until day 7 and also on day 14 of the study. Seven of the patients who vomited, four who had 4-aminoquinolenes in their blood, and five dropouts were excluded. Fever and parasitaemia were suppressed within four days until fourteen in 29 of the 31 remaining patients, including 10 with P. falciparum strains that had low sensitivity to mefloquine. Two failures were due to poor absorption of mefloquine. The presence of P. falciparum strains with low in vitro susceptibility to mefloquine did not affect, within days, the clinical and parasitological efficacy of a single oral dose mefloquine regimen in patients who had received no previous antimalarial treatment and who did not have partial immune protection.
Introduction Chloroquine-resistant falciparum malaria has spread all over West Africa, one of the last countries to be affected being Senegal[1]. Mefloquine is now available in several West African countries, and [...]