11 Low-dose quinine.pmd

1New Halfa Hospital, New Halfa, Sudan. 2Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan. Received: 14/07/03; accepted: 28/10/03 ABSTRACT Pregnant Sudanese women who presented at a hospital in eastern Sudan with chloroquineresistant falciparum malaria were randomly allocated to one of two quinine regimens: low-dose (10 mg/kg 2 times/day) (18 patients) or standard (10 mg/kg 3 times/day) (24 patients). Treatment was for 7 days and follow-up for 28 days. Significantly fewer patients in the low-dose group reported vomiting and abdominal pain than the standard regimen group. Hypoglycaemia, preterm labour and recrudescence were slightly but not significantly higher in patients in the standard group than low-dose group. There were no significant differences between the groups in the mean time from admission to remission of fever and parasite clearance. We tentatively advocate the use of quinine 2 times/day to reduce side-effects and improve compliance.