Evaluation of the clinical efficacy and safety of halofantrine in falciparum malaria in Ibadan, Nigeria

Fifty subjects with acute symptomatic uncomplicated falciparum malaria were treated orally with halofantrine hydrochloride 500 mg 6 hourly for 3 doses if their body weight was 40 kg and above, or 8 mg/kg body weight 6 hourly for 3 doses if their weight was below 40 kg. Parasitaemia cleared in all subjects within 72 h. There was recurrence of parasitaemia in 9 subjects after day 14, and retreatment with halofantrine resulted in prompt clearance of parasitaemia in all but one of these patients. The mean clearance times of parasitaemia, fever and other symptoms were 33.6 +/- 13.0 h, 20.7 +/- 15.3 h, and 35.0 +/- 10.7 h respectively. Minor gastrointestinal side effects occurred in 2 subjects and pruritus in 7 subjects. The pruritus was mild in all but one subject. Haematological and biochemical indices were not adversely affected by treatment except in one subject in whom liver enzymes were elevated before treatment and more than doubled following treatment.