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Side effects

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Little is known about how side effects are affected by age and at what concentration the risks of quinine become substantial.

Side effects include:

  • headache
  • nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea:
    • quinine is a strong irritant which affects the GI tract and also stimulates the vomiting centre
  • auditory nerve dysfunction causing:
    • deafness (non - reversible)
    • tinnitus
    • vertigo
  • visual loss may be:
    • permanent although partial or complete resolution usually occurs
    • sudden onset
    • limited visual disturbance to complete blindness
  • thrombocytopenia
  • agranulocytosis
  • asthma
  • skin rashes
  • haemolysis in:
    • pregnancy
    • patients with chronic falciparum malaria
  • fever
  • hypotension
  • convulsions
  • respiratory depression
  • ventricular tachycardia occurs rarely

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