METHODS

Design:

randomised controlled trial (South East Asian Quinine Artesunate Malaria Trial [SEAQUAMAT]).

Allocation:

concealed.*

Blinding:

blinded (microscopists assessing parasite counts and stages and data analysts).*

Follow up period:

to discharge.

Setting:

10 centres in Bangladesh, Myanmar (Burma), India, and Indonesia.

Patients:

1461 patients >2 years of age (mean age 28 y, 74% men) who had a diagnosis of severe malaria and a positive blood antigen stick test for Plasmodium falciparum histidine rich protein 2. Exclusion criteria: history of full treatment with quinine or an artemisinin derivative for >24 hours before admission or known allergy to artemisinin derivatives or quinine.

Intervention:

730 patients were allocated …