Artemisinin-based suppositories can help ‘buy time’ for malaria
patients who face a delay in accessing effective, injectable
antimalarials, according to research published in the online
open access journal BMC Infectious Diseases. Plasmodium
falciparum malaria can progress to severe disease and death in a
number of hours, so prompt treatment is crucial. As such, rectal
artemisinins can be used as emergency treatment, particularly in
rural areas with limited access to injectable antimalarial
therapy and suitably trained staff. Derived from sweet wormwood,
artemisinin has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for
thousands of years. In the 1990s, researchers recognised its
antimalarial activity and since then a number of safe and
effective artemisinin derivatives have been developed. These
drugs, given by mouth, as a rectal suppository or injected into
a vein or muscle have been shown to rapidly reduce heavy
parasite infection. Oral artemisinin-based combination
treatments now form the basis of antimalarial