Wt. Hughes et Hs. Oz, SUCCESSFUL PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF BABESIOSIS WITH ATOVAQUONE, The Journal of infectious diseases, 172(4), 1995, pp. 1042-1046
Atovaquone was evaluated for the prevention and treatment of babesiosi
s in hamsters. When atovaquone was administered before inoculation of
10(6) Babesia microti and continued for 8 days thereafter, 9 of 10 ham
sters survived beyond 54 days, but all untreated controls died within
12 days after inoculation. Quantitation of parasitemia showed a mean o
f 75% erythrocytes parasitized by day 5 in controls, but atovaquone re
cipients never exceeded 0.7% of parasitized erythrocytes over 54 days
of observation, Clindamycin plus quinine was also effective but less s
o than atovaquone, When treatment was not started until parasitemia be
came established, atovaquone in doses of 300, 150, and 80 mg/kg/day wa
s effective in the recovery of all animals compared with 50% of those
receiving 10 mg/kg/day and 10% of untreated controls. With its remarka
ble safety record, atovaquone offers promise for clinical trials in ba
besiosis of both humans and lower animals.