Paludrine/Avloclor Travel Pack of 112

You must get medical advice on which anti-malarial medicines to take. You must ask your doctor or pharmacist if this Anti-malarial Travel Pack is suitable for the part of the world that you are visiting.

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This Anti-malarial Travel Pack contains two types of tablets:

• The Paludrine tablets contain a medicine called proguanil hydrochloride. (98 tablets)
• The Avloclor tablets contain a medicine called chloroquine phosphate. (14 tablets)

Both medicines belong to a group of medicines called ‘anti-malarials’.

‘Anti-malarials’ can be used in certain parts of the world to help prevent malaria. This is a serious disease spread by infected mosquitoes. Your Anti-malarial Travel Pack will give some degree of protection (prophylaxis) against malaria in certain countries. It can be used when it is necessary to take more than one type of medicine at the same time to help prevent malaria.

Medicines to help prevent malaria (malaria prophylaxis) are recommended for:

• People travelling to countries where malaria occurs.
• People living in malaria areas who are not immune to malaria.

These people have little or no immunity to malaria, so they are at risk of severe attacks.

Avoiding mosquito bites

When you are taking this medicine to prevent malaria, you should also reduce the chances of being bitten by mosquitoes.

• Wear light-coloured, long-sleeved clothing and long trousers when you are outside after sunset.
• Use insect repellent creams or sprays on parts of your body not covered by clothing.
• Sleep in a properly screened room or under a mosquito net.
• Spray to kill any mosquitoes that may have entered rooms in spite of screening.

No medicine can be guaranteed to protect against malaria in every case. If you have a high temperature (fever) during your visit to a malaria area, or up to a year after returning home, you should suspect malaria. Contact a doctor straight away and let him or her know that you have visited a malaria area.

If this medicine is from your doctor or pharmacist, take it exactly as they have told you. Otherwise, follow the instructions below. If you do not understand the instructions, or you are not sure, ask your doctor or pharmacist.

When to start taking your medicine

• Start taking this medicine one week before you enter the malaria area.
• You must continue to take it during your stay.
• You must keep taking this medicine for 4 weeks after leaving the malaria area.

Adults and children over 14 years

• Take two Avloclor tablets once a week on the same day each week.
• And take two Paludrine tablets daily, at the same time each day.

Children

Do not use this Anti-malarial Travel Pack in children under 1 year of age. For children over 1 year of age, the dose depends on the child’s age.

• Ages 1 to 4 years: Take half an Avloclor tablet once a week (on the same day each week) and take half a Paludrine tablet daily (at the same time each day).
• Ages 5 to 8 years: Take one Avloclor tablet once a week (on the same day each week) and take one Paludrine tablet daily (at the same time each day).
• Ages 9 to 14 years: Take one and a half Avloclor tablets once a week (on the same day each week) and take one and a half Paludrine tablets daily (at the same time each day).

How to take your tablets

• Take the tablet(s) after food.
• Swallow the tablet(s), or part tablets, whole with a drink of water.
• For a young child, the tablet(s) may be given crushed in milk, honey or jam.

Please tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking, or have recently taken, any other medicines. This includes medicines that you buy without a prescription and herbal medicines.

In particular, tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking any of the following medicines:

• Warfarin or other medicines used to prevent blood clots. Paludrine may increase the effect of these medicines.
• Antacids (aluminium, calcium and magnesium salts that are used to treat heartburn or indigestion). Antacids may reduce the amount of Paludrine absorbed from your gut. This may mean that the full dose of Paludrine is not absorbed into your body and it will not work properly. Therefore, you should take your antacid dose at least two hours before or after taking your Paludrine dose.

Do not take Paludrine if you are allergic (hypersensitive) to proguanil hydrochloride or any of the other ingredients of Paludrine.

Check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking your medicine if you have ever had problems with your kidneys. This is because your doctor may give you a lower dose of Paludrine.

If you live in a country where malaria occurs, you may already be slightly immune to the disease. You must ask a doctor or pharmacist for advice before you take anti-malarial medicines.

If you are pregnant or may become pregnant, talk to a doctor or pharmacist:

• before you take Paludrine,
• before you take any medicine to prevent malaria,
• and before you go to a country where there is malaria.

If you are breast-feeding, talk to a doctor or pharmacist before taking Paludrine.

Although Paludrine passes into the breast milk, the amount is not enough to protect your baby from malaria. Therefore, your baby will still need to be given anti-malarial medicines.

Ask your doctor or pharmacist who will be able to give you advice.

Paludrine is not likely to affect you being able to drive or use any tools or machines.

The active substance in Paludrine tablets is proguanil hydrochloride. Each tablet contains 100 mg of proguanil hydrochloride.

The other ingredients are calcium carbonate, gelatin, magnesium stearate and maize starch.

The active substance in Avloclor tablets is chloroquine phosphate. Each tablet contains 250 mg of chloroquine phosphate (equivalent to 155 mg of chloroquine base).

The other ingredients are magnesium stearate and maize starch.