Artemisinin

Artemisinin is currently the most important drug in the treatment of malaria, especially the most lethal form caused by Plasmodium falciparum. The classic form is a plant product used in traditional Chinese medicine.

To reduce the development of resistant Plasmodia, the standard of care is to use it in jointly with other antimalarial drugs: artemisinin combination therapy (ACT).

Class drug and derivatives
Artesunate is a derivative that produces higher blood levels when given intravenously. In 2007, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) received an exception from the Food and Drug Administration to Artesunate in the United States, specifically for treatment of malarial clinical emergencies; CDC will dispense it to requesting organizations that meet treatment criteria.

Resistance
Several drug combinations, however, such a artesunate, when used with older antimalarial drugs against which resistance already exists, may produce treatment failures, which already may have happened in the historically drug-resistant border between Cambodia and Thailand.

The problem is aggravated by the extensive worldwide practice of self-medication for malaria, coupled with widespread distribution of counterfeit drugs.