MEFLOQUINE = MQ oral

Therapeutic action

• Antimalarial

Indications

• Treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria
• Treatment of uncomplicated malaria due to other Plasmodium species, when chloroquine cannot be used
• Completion treatment following parenteral therapy for severe malaria

Forms and strengths

• 250 mg scored tablet

Dosage and duration

• Child 6 months and over (≥ 5 kg) and adult: 8 mg/kg once daily for 3 days (in combination with artesunate)

Contra-indications, adverse effects, precautions

• Do not administer to patients with neuropsychiatric disorders (or history of), seizures, hypersensitivity to mefloquine or quinine; mefloquine treatment in the previous 4 weeks.
• For completion treatment following parenteral therapy for severe malaria: do not administer if the patient developed neurological signs during the acute phase.
• May cause:
  • gastrointestinal disturbances, dizziness, headache, sleeping disorders;
  • more rarely: neuropsychiatric reactions, heart rhythm disorders, hypo or hypertension, skin allergies.
• If the patient vomits less than 30 minutes after administration, repeat the full dose. If the patient vomits within 30 to 60 minutes, re-administer a half the dose.
• Do not combine with anti-epileptics (risk of seizures), co-artemether, chloroquine (risk of seizures, cardiac toxicity).
• Do not administer simultaneously with quinine (risk of seizures, cardiac toxicity). If mefloquine is used after quinine IV, administer mefloquine 12 hours after the last dose of quinine.
• Administer with caution to patients taking antiarrhythmics, beta-blockers, calcium-channel blockers or digitalis (risk of heart rhythm disorders).
• Pregnancy: no contra-indication
• Breast-feeding: no contra-indication

Remarks

• Also comes in co-formulated tablets containing artesunate 25 mg/mefloquine 50 mg and artesunate 100 mg/mefloquine 200 mg.

Storage