Artemisinin is also known as Qinghaosu and its derivatives are a group of drugs that possess the most rapid action of all current drugs against Plasmodium falciparum malaria.Treatments containing an artemisinin derivative (artemisinin-combination therapies, ACTs) are now standard treatment worldwide for P. falciparum malaria. The starting compound artemisinin is isolated from the plant Artemisia annua, sweet wormwood, a herb employed in Chinese traditional medicine.
Artemisia annua L. is an aromatic-antibacterial herb that destroys malarial parasites, lowers fevers and checks bleeding, and of which the secondary compound of interest is artemisinin.