Since the publication of our article on counterfeit artesunate in June 2006 [1], further information has become available which we would like to report, as it has public health significance. An additional two counterfeit artesunate “types” with distinguishing features of the packaging have been found in mainland Southeast Asia, bringing the number of physical types to at least 14. For details see “Fake Artesunate Warning Sheet Number 5a” [2], an update (dated August 2006) to that published as supplementary material to the above paper.
In addition, we would like to bring readers' attention to the newspaper reports of counterfeit artesunate and dihydroartemisinin seized from ladies' handbags at Lagos airport [3].
Footnotes
Paul N. Newton (paul@tropmedres.ac)
Wellcome Trust–Mahosot Hospital–Oxford University Tropical Medicine Research Collaboration, Mahosot Hospital
Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic
Centre for Tropical Medicine, Churchill Hospital, University of Oxford Oxford, United Kingdom
Michael D. Green, Division of Parasitic Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
Facundo Fernández, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this article.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
References
- Newton PN, McGready R, Fernandez F, Green MD, Sunjio M, et al. Manslaughter by fake artesunate in Asia—Will Africa be next? PLoS Med. 2006;3:e197. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0030197. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0030197. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wellcome Trust Oxford SE Asian Tropical Medicine Research Units. Fake artesunate warning sheet number 5a. 2006. Available: http://www.tropicalmedicine.ox.ac.uk//FakeArtesunateWarningJan07.pdf. Accessed 23 February 2007.
- Oyeniran M. NAFDAC seizes N3m malaria drugs. 2006 September 28. Nigerian Tribune.