MEFLOQUINE TOLERABILITY DURING CHEMOPROPHYLAXIS - FOCUS ON ADVERSE EVENT ASSESSMENTS, STEREOCHEMISTRY AND COMPLIANCE

This longitudinal study of travellers to Africa taking mefloquine (MQ) chemoprophylaxis aimed to quantify and assess non-serious adverse eve nts (AE) occurring during short-term prophylaxis and relate these to c oncentrations of racemic MQ, its enantiomers and metabolite. A total o f 420 volunteers (52% F) participated. AEs with some impact on activit ies were reported by 11.2% of participants including 7.9% of neurologi cal/psychiatric symptoms. Women were more likely to report AEs (P=0.02 ). The standardized questionnaires used showed more pathological indic ators in travellers who reported subjective AE with significantly more dizziness, distress, sleep disturbances and a high total mood disturb ance (TMD) in the AE group. There was, however, no significant perform ance deficit in computerized psychomotor tests in those experiencing A E. Furthermore, no significant differences were observed in enantiomer ratios, metabolite concentrations, or racemic MQ levels in participan ts with or without AEs suggesting that these factors are not the main predictors of mefloquine intolerability.