Malaria preventive linked to ‘psychiatric events’

	Tweet

People traveling in tropical areas who take the anti-malaria drug mefloquine appear to be prone to psychiatric events such as anxiety or psychosis, new research shows. Women and people with a psychiatric history seem especially vulnerable.

Although mefloquine’s effectiveness in preventing malaria is widely accepted, it’s unclear how well people tolerate the drug, Dr. Bruno H. Ch. Stricker and colleagues, from Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, note in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

In particular, there have been concerns that the drug may trigger psychiatric symptoms.

To investigate, the researchers studied data reported to travel insurance companies. It included 111 subjects who had experienced a psychiatric event while traveling and 453 matched “controls” who had not.

The most common events were depression, anxiety attacks, psychosis and insomnia, but there were also several instances of collapse, hallucinations, disorientation and lethargy.

Overall, mefloquine use raised the risk of psychiatric events by 3.5-fold, the team found. However, among females and patients with a psychiatric history, the elevated risks were even higher.

“Despite the fact that mefloquine is contraindicated in persons with a history of psychiatric diseases, a substantial number of users of mefloquine had such a history,” the investigators point out.

“Since persons with a positive history of psychiatric diseases have a strong risk of relapse with mefloquine use, other antimalarial drugs should be prescribed to such individuals,” they say.

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, February 2005.

RELATED STORIES:
Vioxx risks can occur within 2 weeks: Canada study   New Approach Promises Greater Success for Predicting Drug Safety   Arizona lawsuit blames Zicam spray for loss of smell   Avastin Injections Are Reported to Cause Blindness   US stops sildenafil (Viagra) trial in sickle cell   New pain relievers boost blood pressure more - study   Merck Target of Disclosures on Vioxx, Vaccines   Tips for Troublesome Medications   Arthritis drug recall sparks criticism of FDA   Wide range of drugs abused by elite athletes   Experts want suicide risk warning on ADHD drug   Despite warning dangerous ADHD drug still being sold

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]