Malaria Prophylaxis — Is Malarone Safe for a Tinnitus Patient?

[AfroSnowman]

Is long term use of Malarone safe from a tinnitus perspective?

 

[Dr. Nagler]

Hello @AfroSnowman -

I would stay away from chloroquine (Aralen) and similar quinine-based anti-malarials. Atovaquone/proguanil (Malarone) is not quinine-based and does not cause auditory damage. I have seen it on one of the "ototoxic" drug lists (along with a gazillion other drugs) - but since Malarone does not cause auditory damage, I consider it to be safe. As a matter of fact, I took Malarone myself earlier this year for anti-malarial prophylaxis during a trip to East Africa. I am not sure exactly what you mean by "long term" use and would certainly discuss it with a specialist in travel medicine if you were going to need to take it for more than a few weeks.

I am attaching my thoughts on "Drugs To Avoid" as a pdf file.

Hope this helps.

Stephen M. Nagler, M.D.