Safety and Effectiveness of Intravenous Artesunate for Treatment of Severe Malaria in the United States-April 2019 Through December 2020.

Background: Severe malaria can be deadly and requires treatment with intravenous artesunate (IVAS). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided IVAS starting 1 April 2019 for all patients with severe malaria in the United States. This study describes the safety and effectiveness of IVAS in these patients.

Methods: Patients meeting criteria for severe malaria April 2019-December 2020 who received IVAS were included. Demographic, clinical, laboratory, adverse event, and outcome information were collected. Clinical presentation, time to reach 1% and 0% parasitemia, adverse events, and death were described using proportions, medians, interquartile range (IQR), and tests of significance for differences in proportions.

Results: Of 280 patients included, the majority were male (61.4%), Black (75.0%), with a median age of 35 years (IQR: 15.8-53.9). Most had Plasmodium falciparum (83.6%) with median parasitemia of 8.0% (IQR: 4.6-13.2). Of 170 patients with information, 159 (93.5%) reached ≤1% parasitemia by the third IVAS dose with a median time of 17.6 hours (IQR: 10.8-28.8), and 0% parasitemia in a median of 37.2 hours (IQR 27.2-55.2). Patients with parasite densities >10% and those requiring adjunct therapy had significantly higher parasite clearance times. Adverse events associated with IVAS were reported in 4.8% (n = 13 of 271). Eight patients had post-artesunate delayed hemolysis that resolved. There were 5 (1.8%) deaths, all attributable to severe malaria.

Conclusions: IVAS is a safe and effective drug for the treatment of severe malaria in the United States; timely administration can be lifesaving.