Imported Plasmodium falciparum malaria following non-pharmaceutical forms of Artemisia annua prophylaxis

Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACT) have been recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 2011 as a first-line therapy for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria.1 Artemisinin ismostly obtained from a plant, Artemisia annua, but extraction techniques are difficult with variable and very low yield. Despite these difficulties, the use of Artemisia-based herbal infusions for the treatment and prophylaxis of malaria has emerged in sub-Saharan countries, promoted by associations and competing with ACT, despiteWHO position statement in 2012 against the use of non-pharmaceutical forms of A. annua against malaria, including tea preparations from dry leaves.1 Nevertheless, the use of non-pharmaceutical forms of Artemisia has been increasing, and its failure in preventing malaria was first described in France in 2016.2 We thus conducted a national retrospective study to determine the burden of this emerging issue. © International Society of Travel Medicine 2019. Published by Oxford University Press.