Delayed clearance of Plasmodium falciparum in patients with human immunodeficiency virus co-infection treated with artemisinin.

We investigated the effect of artemisinin on the rate of clearance of Plasmodium falciparum in patients with or without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection. Initial mean (+/- SEM) parasite density was not different between HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected groups (27,486 +/- 2,643 versus 32,892 +/- 6,583, respectively; P = 0.55). The mean (+/- SEM) time to clear 75% and 90% of the parasites was 23.1 hr +/- 1.8 and 29.3 hr +/- 1.9, …