What Is The Ideal Dosage Of Malarone And Riamet Taken For Malaria?

Posted on Wed, 27 Jan 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 27 Jan 2016 Answered on

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi, can we give Riamet or Malarone to a 4.5 year old child (14 kg) as an emergency malaria medication? We are travelling to Vietnam and Laos for 2 months and are looking into malaria drugs. Travel Health Service suggest Malarone 4 tabs a day for 3 days and Riamet 4 tabs initially and 5 further doses of 4 tabs at 8, 24, 36, 48 and 60 hours thereafter. Would this be an applicable dose for a child as this is based on a an adult.
Thanks
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Answered by Dr. Dr. Pradeep Kumar Jain (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
The dose depends on weight

Detailed Answer:
Hello

Thanks for asking on this platform

The dose you have mentioned is for adult that means a person with weight more than 35 kgs.
For both the medications the number of tablets would be 1 if weight is between 5-15 kg,2 for weight between 15-25 kgs,3 for 25-35 kgs and 4 for more than 35 kgs.
The average weight of 4.5 kg old child is about 16-18 kgs.Depending on the weight of your child you can give 2 tablets of malarone for 3 days or 2 tablets of Riamet initially followed by each dose of 2 tablets at 8,24,36,48 and 60 hours.
Give it with some food for better absorption.

Thanks and regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D