{blacktriangledown}Atovaquone + proguanil for malaria prophylaxis

doi:10.1136/dtb.2001.391073

Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin 2001;39:73-75; doi:10.1136/dtb.2001.391073

${blacktriangledown}$ Atovaquone + proguanil for malaria prophylaxis

Relevant BNF section: 5.4.1

&#9660Atovaquone + proguanil* (Malarone - GlaxoSmithKline)is a fixed-dose combination of two antiparasitic drugs. In 1996,it was licensed in the UK for the treatment of acute, uncomplicatedfalciparum malaria. Earlier this year, the combination was licensedadditionally for prophylaxis of falciparum malaria. The manufacturerclaims that, when used for prophylaxis, atovaquone + proguanil"offers 97% efficacy with a side effect profile similar to placebo".Here, we assess these claims and review the place of atovaquone+ proguanil as prophylaxis for non-immune people travellingfrom the UK.