Clindamycin/primaquine for treatment of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in AIDS.

In an open clinical trial, 109 episodes of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (70 proven and 39 highly probable) were treated with clindamycin/primaquine. These episodes were in 35 patients who failed on standard therapy and 15 who did not tolerate standard therapy; 59 patients received this regimen as their initial treatment. The clinical outcome was excellent with only 8 cases of failures encountered (6 patients also failed on standard therapy). The onset of clinical response was obvious in less than 72 hours in 81% of patients; the relapse rate was very low. The regimen was well tolerated and compares advantageously with conventional therapy for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia.