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Parents and
guardians should be warned of the risks of young children being taken into
malarial endemic areas. Children under 8 years of age can only be offered a
limited number of antimalarials for chemoprophylaxis. Chloroquine and
primaquine are just a few of the antimalarials which have been shown to be
reasonably safe for children. Doxycycline is contraindicated in children
less than 8 years, particularly for its effect on permanent teeth.
Mefloquine has not yet been generally released for children in every country
and may not be registered for children less than 15 kg. Newer drugs such as
Malarone could be considered, but again some countries have not registered
this drug for use in young children. Some antimalarials such as chloroquine
and quinine are cardiotoxic in overdose, so such medications should be kept
out of reach of children. |