Combined therapy for chloroquine-resistant, Plasmodium falciparum infection. Concurrent use of long-acting sulphormethoxine and pyrimethamine

Abstract

Combined therapy with a single dose of the long-acting sulfonamides, sulphormethoxine, and pyrimethamine was found to be effective alone and in combination with quinine sulfate for treatment of Plasmodium falciparum infections in nonimmune patients. While combined chloro-quine-quinine therapy was usually effective in control of clinical disease, 41% of the patients had recrudescences shortly after therapy was completed (14.3 days). In contrast, only 2% of the patients treated with sulphormethoxine, pyrimethamine, and quinine had a reappearance of clinical disease. Five nonimmune patients had a clinical cure of their primary infection following a single dose of the sulphormethoxine-pyrimethamine combination.