Aims: Halofantrine is the first regimen used for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in children in France according to the recommendations of the French Consensus Conference held in 1999 and pending additional data in this population. In 1999, a high rate of clinical relapse after a single cure of halofantrine led us to switch to mefloquine for first line treatment of uncomplicated malaria. The aims of this study were to evaluate this change of attitude and to compare the efficacy of halofantrine and mefloquine in the treatment of uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria in children.
Patients and methods: We retrospectively analysed 118 pediatric cases of malaria treated at Armand-Trousseau Children hospital in Paris between January 1st, 1999 and December 31st, 2000.
Results: 93 patients were treated for an uncomplicated case of P. falciparum malaria: 48 received a unique cure of halofantrine and 21 were treated with mefloquine. Nine patients relapsed, all having previously received halofantrine. No patient treated with mefloquine relapsed.
Conclusion: These results and other recent published data suggest to recommend mefloquine instead of halofantrine as first line treatment of uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria in children with respect to specific contra-indications. A larger evaluation of mefloquine is however necessary. The association atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone) is promising but needs to be evaluated in large pediatric studies in comparison with other treatments. Its indication as a curative treatment of uncomplicated malaria is, to date, restricted to adults and children over 12 years in France.