QUESTION: Can I use Poly-MVA in children? If so, how would I dose it?
ANSWER: We have used Poly-MVA in all ages, and used it in quite small (under 20 lb) children. Dosing depends on indication, and for cancer we tend to dose higher and in autoimmunity lower. I have our clinic dose adjustment below.
As an example I order the following as MAX doses in children (adjusted by the calculation below):
Child with cancer:
- IV: Adult dose of 40 mL Poly given once a day for 3-4 days per week
- Oral: Adult dose of 40 mL Poly given BID-TID in divided oral doses for 3-4 days per week
Child with Autoimmunity / Mitochondrial injury etc…:
- IV: Adult dose of 10-20 mL Poly given once a day 1-3 days a week
- Oral: Adult dose of 10-20 mL Poly given BID-TID in divided oral doses 1-3 days a week
NOTE: ALWAYS ESCALATE DOSE BY 25% INCR. AND WORK UP TO TOTAL MAX DOSE OVER AT LEAST FOUR DAYS.
Doses adjusted as below:
Appendix A: Clark’s Rule is a medical term referring to a procedure used to calculate the amount of medicine to give to a child aged 2-17. The procedure is to take the child’s weight in pounds, divide by 150lbs, and multiply the fractional result by the adult dose to find the equivalent child dosage.
Pediatric dose = [child’s weight (lb) / 150 (lb)] x Adult dose
For example: If an adult dose of medication calls for 30mg and the child weighs 30lbs. Divide the weight by 150 (30/150) to get 1/5. Multiply 1/5 times 30mg to get 6mg. (Or convert the fraction to a decimal and multiply – 0.20 in this case).
Common IV example: Adult goal dose is 40 mL Poly-MVA Child weighs 25 pounds [25 lb / 150 lb] x 40 mL 1/6 x 40 mL [convert to a decimal] 0.167 x 40 mL = 6.7 (7) mL dose