Malaria drug boosts recovery rates
By Nathan Seppa
Adding a drug derived from the Chinese herbal medicine known as sweet wormwood boosts the effectiveness of standard malaria treatment, even in some areas where malaria parasites are resistant to frontline drugs. This finding comes from an analysis of 16 studies that examined wormwood-derived artesunate.
Twelve of the studies were done in Africa, three in Thailand, and one in Peru. Some participants in the studies took a typical antimalarial drug, such as chloroquine, as well as artesunate.