An in vivo test to assess mefloquine 25 mg/kg for the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria in Rondônia, Brazil

Drug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum is undermining malaria control efforts worldwide. In Brazil, mefloquine (MQ) at a dose of 15 mg/kg body weight is used to treat P. falciparum. At this dose, MQ resistance developed rapidly in Thailand. Use of a higher MQ dose may retard the development of resistance. We treated 50 patients aged one to 67 years who had acute, uncomplicated P falciparum malaria using MQ 25 mg/kg. There were no serious adverse events. Two patients complained of dizziness and insomnia. Assessing evaluable patients, the day 42 cure rate was 40/42 [95.2 percent (95 percent confidence interval 83.8 to 99.4 percent)]. Mefloquine was efficacious and well tolerated in this small cohort from the state of Rôndonia.