Fig. 7From: Severe malariaRelationship between estimated parasite biomass and mortality [4, 110] in the large randomized controlled trial which compared artesunate and quinine in African children with severe malaria (AQUAMAT) [19]. The upper panel divides the patients into tertiles by treatment effect (reduction in mortality by artesunate). The mortality reduction in the preceding randomized controlled trial (SEAQUAMAT) which compared artesunate and quinine in Southeast Asia (where the diagnosis of severe malaria is more specific) is shown for comparison [18] (upper green dashed line). There was no treatment benefit from artesunate in patients in the lowest tertile of parasite biomass (red), likely corresponding to patients with another cause of severe illness (probably sepsis) and incidental parasitaemia [108, 109]. The lower panel shows the corresponding relationship between mortality in the AQUAMAT study and the estimated total parasite numbers in the body derived from the admission plasma PfHRP2 concentration [110]Back to article page