Breakthrough against tuberculosis: high efficacy of Artemisia afra infusions

Abstract

Objective: The objective is to study in vivo the effect of the administration of Artemisia infusions as supplement in combination with the prescribed WHO treatment. Promising in vitro results needed to be confirmed in vivo before proceeding to larger scale clinical trials. Methods: A first pilot study was run with 5 patients using Artemisia afra infusions and a second one on 10 patients with Artemisia annua infusions. Over 15 days their fever, diurnal and nocturnal coughing, asthenia, Ziehl-Neelsen assay were monitored. Results: Artemisia afra infusions give faster symptoms resolution and healing. After 5 days all TB symptoms had disappeared whilst for Artemisia annua it took 10 days. The Ziehl-Neelsen assay was negative after 10 days for the Artemisia afra treatment and after 15 days for Artemisia annua. Conclusion: These observations on the administration of Artemisia infusions in combination with the conventional WHO treatment gave an astonishingly faster relief of the symptoms than conventional treatment alone. This could be a base to provide a potential natural and inexpensive therapy for TB treatment failure and resistance. More in vivo studies with a larger cohort are required to confirm our findings.