ABSTRACT
Forty patients with uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria were respectively treated in an open randomized comparative study of dihydroartemisinin tablets given at total doses of 480 mg over 5 days and 640 mg over 7 days in a drug-resistant malaria endemic area in Hainan, China. The result showed that all patients were clinically cured. In 5-day and 7-day groups, the mean fever clearance times (FCT) were 26.1+/-10.2 and 21.1+/-11.8 hours respectively; the mean parasite clearance times (PCT) were 58.7+/-20.9 and 59.4+/-20.9 hours respectively, which showed no significant difference. 28-day follow-ups were accomplished on 39 and 37 cases respectively in two groups, the recrudescence rates were 20.5% (8/39) in 5-day group, while 2.7% (1/37) in 7-day group with significant difference (chi2=4.19, p<0.05). No clinical drug-related side effect was found in two groups during treatment.