Primaquine (Systemic)
Before Using This MedicineIn deciding to use a medicine,
the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will
do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For primaquine, the
following should be considered:
Allergies - Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or
allergic reaction to primaquine or iodoquinol (e.g., Yodoxin). Also tell your
health care professional if you are allergic to any other substances, such
as foods, preservatives, or dyes.
Pregnancy - Primaquine is not recommended for use during pregnancy.
Breast-feeding - It is not known if primaquine is distributed into
breast milk. However, primaquine has not been reported to cause problems in
nursing babies.
Children - Children should avoid traveling to areas where there
is a chance of getting malaria, unless they can take effective antimalarial
medicines such as primaquine.
Older adults - Many medicines have not been studied specifically
in older people. Therefore, it may not be known whether they work exactly
the same way they do in younger adults or if they cause different side effects
or problems in older people. There is no specific information comparing use
of primaquine in the elderly with use in other age groups.
Other medicines - Although certain medicines should not be used
together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together
even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to
change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking
primaquine it is especially important that your health care professional know
if you are taking any of the following:
-
Acetohydroxamic acid (e.g., Lithostat) or
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Antidiabetics, oral (diabetes medicine you take by mouth) or
-
Dapsone or
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Furazolidone (e.g., Furoxone) or
-
Methyldopa (e.g., Aldomet) or
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Nitrofurantoin (e.g., Furadantin) or
-
Procainamide (e.g., Pronestyl) or
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Quinacrine (e.g., Atabrine) or
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Quinidine (e.g., Quinidex) or
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Quinine (e.g., Quinamm) or
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Sulfonamides (sulfa medicine) or
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Sulfoxone (e.g., Diasone) or
-
Vitamin K (e.g., AquaMEPHYTON, Synkayvite) - Taking these medicines
with primaquine may increase the chance of side effects affecting the blood
Other medical problems - The presence of other medical
problems may affect the use of primaquine. Make sure you tell your doctor
if you have any other medical problems, especially:
-
Family or personal history of favism or hemolytic anemia or
-
Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency or
-
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) methemoglobin reductase
deficiency - Patients with any of these medical problems who take primaquine
may have an increased chance of side effects affecting the blood
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