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.