Herba Artemisiae annuae tea preparation compared to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria in adults:: a randomized double-blind clinical trial

Tea preparations from the herb Artemisia annua L. (Aa) which is used in traditional Chinese medicine might offer an inexpensive way of producing artemisinin drugs locally. We compared Aa with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) in the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria in semi-immune adults. After seven days, the cure rate was 7/10 for the Aa compared to 7/9 for SP; this dropped to 4/10 for Aa and 4/9 for SP at day 14 and to 1/9 for Aa and 3/8 for SP at day 28.