Artesunate as a potent antiviral agent in a patient with late drug-resistant cytomegalovirus infection after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Shapira, Michael Y; Resnick, Igor B; Chou, Sunwen; Neumann, Avidan U; Lurain, Nell S; Stamminger, Thomas; Caplan, Orit; Saleh, Niveen et al. · Clin Infect Dis · 2008

case_report · Level V

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Abstract

This is the first report of treatment of cytomegalovirus infection with artesunate, for a stem cell transplant recipient with a newly identified foscarnet-resistant and ganciclovir-resistant DNA polymerase L776M mutation. Artesunate treatment resulted in a 1.7-2.1-log reduction in viral load by treatment day 7, with a viral half-life of 0.9-1.9 days, indicating a highly effective block in viral replication.

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