Curing of chloroquine-resistant malaria with clindamycin

A randomized comparative trial for treating adult patients with Plasmodium falciparum malaria was performed in Lambarene, Gabon. Forty-two patients received chloroquine (25 mg/kg for 48 hr) and 38 patients received clindamycin (5 mg/kg twice a day, for five days). Chloroquine treatment cured 15 patients (36%). Twenty patients (48%) showed recrudescent malaria by day 28 of follow-up (RI resistance) and seven patients (17%) showed persistent parasitemia after chloroquine treatment (RII/III resistance). In contrast, clindamycin treatment cured 37 of 38 patients (97%) and only one (3%) showed a recrudescence by day 28 (P < 0.001). Although the parasite clearance time was significantly longer after clindamycin treatment (median five days, range 3-6) than after chloroquine treatment (median four days, range 2-8) (P < 0.01), no differences were seen in the duration of symptoms after chemotherapy. In both treatment groups, no severe side effects occurred. Clindamycin can be used as a safe alternative to achieve radical cure in semi-immune adult patients with chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum malaria in Central Africa.