AboutSudesh Samuel Expertise I take questions on medication, pharmaceuticals and supplements. This includes areas of medication safety, queries related to drug profiles like pharmacology, side effects, interactions, precautions and contraindications, storage conditions, administration, supplement uses along with their interactions, precautions and side effects.
Experience I am a licenced and practicing pharmacist specialising in the provision of healthcare communications material and drug information. I have run a drug information service at a national, tertiary, teaching hospital where my duties included managing several pharmacists in the development of continual education, providing drug information throughout the hospital and analyzing new and existing drugs for inclusion into the hospital formulary. I have been involved in several healthcare committees including patient safety, adverse drug reaction monitoring, antibiotic guidelines as well as a pharmacy and therapeutics committee. I was an on-call pharmacist with the national drug and poisons information centre. My research focus has been on medication review and I have presented findings on a renal medication review service and also published a review article on halting the allergic march in the World Allergy Organization Journal.
Organizations Institute for Medication Management - http://www.medicationreview.net
Publications World Allergy Organization Journal,
Vision Reborn,
Medical Grapevine,
National University Hospital Pharmacy and Therapeutics Newsletter,
National University Hospital Adverse Drug Reaction Newsletter,
National Healthcare Group Adverse Drug Reaction Newsletter,
suite101
Education/Credentials Master of Health Service Management,
Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy with Honours
Question I am choosing between malarone (atovaquone and proguanil hydrochloride),
doxycyclene and mefloquine as malaria prophylaxis for an upcoming trip to
Senegal for 6 months.
The idea of being on an antibiotic for 6 months worries the naturalist part of
me,
although I know being on anything for 6 months isn't great. I am leaning
away
from mefloquine because the idea of taking a drug with
psychological/neurological side effects is scary! So I am leaning towards
malarone, which is expensive but I am ok with that if it is the best.
Can you tell me if any of these might affect future childbearing in any way?
And, is malarone an antibiotic? Or does it work in a different way?
Thank you!
Answer Hello Lisa, malarone may be the safer option compared to mefloquine in terms of data from animal studies in relation to pregnancy. Both preparations do not have adequate studies in humans to conclude on their safety in pregnancy or future childbearing. Malarone has two components: atovaquone and proguanil, neither of which is an antibiotic. The combination is more anti-protozoal or anti-parasitic and is effective at two stages of the malaria parasite's life cycle. Best wishes.
