Bach Mai Hospital Saves Two Critical Malaria Patients with WHO-Provided Artesunate

Two patients with severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria were admitted to Bach Mai Hospital in Vietnam. The first, a 51‑year‑old Vietnamese man who had recently returned from Angola, arrived in a coma with multi‑organ failure. The second, a 38‑year‑old Chinese national who had lived in Guinea, was transferred from a hotel in Bắc Ninh in a similarly critical state. Both required mechanical ventilation, continuous haemodialysis and intensive supportive care.

Faced with a shortage of the essential drug artesunate, the hospital alerted the Ministry of Health, which coordinated with the World Health Organization. WHO promptly supplied 150 doses of injectable artesunate, allowing the clinicians to target the parasite effectively. After aggressive treatment, the parasites were cleared, organ functions began to recover, and both patients were discharged on 22 July. The case highlights the importance of rapid international pharmaceutical assistance for imported malaria cases in Vietnam.