Comparison 1. Artesunate vs quinine.

Outcome or subgroup title	No. of studies	No. of participants	Statistical method	Effect size
1 Death: participant age	8	7429	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.71 [0.62, 0.80]
1.1 Adults (Age > 15/16 years)	5	1664	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.61 [0.50, 0.75]
1.2 Children (Age < 15 years)	4	5765	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.76 [0.65, 0.90]
2 Death: time since admission to hospital [sensitivity analysis]	4		Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	Subtotals only
2.1 Death within 24 hours	1	5417	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.84 [0.69, 1.04]
2.2 Death after 24 hours	1	5072	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.65 [0.48, 0.88]
2.3 Death within 48 hours	3	1646	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.78 [0.57, 1.05]
2.4 Death after 48 hours	3	1646	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.53 [0.38, 0.74]
3 Death: intravenous vs intramuscular artesunate [sensitivity analysis]	8	7429	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.71 [0.63, 0.80]
3.1 Intravenous artesunate	7	5435	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.69 [0.60, 0.80]
3.2 Intramuscular artesunate	2	1994	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.77 [0.60, 0.98]
4 Neurological sequelae at discharge	3	6422	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	1.41 [1.05, 1.88]
4.1 Adults (age > 15/16 years)	1	1259	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	2.97 [0.60, 14.64]
4.2 Children (Age < 15 years)	3	5163	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	1.36 [1.01, 1.83]
5 Neurological sequelae at day 28	1	4857	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	1.23 [0.74, 2.03]
5.1 Adults (Age > 15/16 years)	0	0	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.0 [0.0, 0.0]
5.2 Children (Age < 15 years)	1	4857	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	1.23 [0.74, 2.03]
6 Coma recovery time (hours)	2	231	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	2.11 [‐19.17, 23.40]
7 Time to hospital discharge (days)	1		Mean Difference (IV, Fixed, 95% CI)	Totals not selected
8 Fever clearance time (hours)	3	317	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐2.74 [‐14.07, 8.60]
9 Parasite clearance time (hours)	5		Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	Subtotals only
9.1 Time to clear 50% of parasites	3	292	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐8.14 [‐11.55, ‐4.73]
9.2 Time to clear 90% of parasites	1	61	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐18.5 [‐24.13, ‐12.87]
9.3 Time to clear 95% of parasites	2	231	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐10.69 [‐20.27, ‐1.10]
9.4 Time to clear all parasites	4	419	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐9.77 [‐18.11, ‐1.44]
10 Hypoglycaemia episodes: by age of participants	5	7137	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.55 [0.41, 0.74]
10.1 Adults (> 15/16 years)	2	1372	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.36 [0.19, 0.68]
10.2 Children (Age < 15 years)	4	5765	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.62 [0.45, 0.87]
11 Hypoglycaemia episodes: by method of monitoring	5	7137	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.55 [0.41, 0.74]
11.1 Routine monitoring	3	251	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.46 [0.25, 0.85]
11.2 Clinical monitoring	1	1461	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.32 [0.13, 0.79]
11.3 Unclear	1	5425	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.64 [0.45, 0.92]