nifurtimox

Nifurtimox

Nifurtimox, sold under the brand name Lampit, is a medication used to treat Chagas disease and sleeping sickness. For sleeping sickness it is used together with eflornithine in nifurtimox-eflornithine combination treatment as first-line therapy for second-stage gambiense sleeping sickness. In Chagas disease it is an alternative to benznidazole. In the US, it is indicated in pediatric patients (birth to less than 18 years of age and weighing at least 2.5 kg) for Chagas disease. It is given by mouth. Common side effects include abdominal pain, headache, nausea, and weight loss. There are concerns from animal studies that it may increase the risk of cancer but these concerns have not been found in human trials. Nifurtimox is not recommended in pregnancy or in those with significant kidney or liver problems. It is a type of nitrofuran. Nifurtimox came into medication use in 1965. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. It is not available commercially in Canada. It was approved for medical use in the United States in August 2020. In regions of the world where the disease is common nifurtimox is provided for free by the World Health Organization (WHO).