Pilot study to compare the use of the national program drugs ALONE versus their combination with Artemisia Afra infusions for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis

Introduction:Tuberculosis is one of the leading infectious causes of death worldwide.The WHO estimates that 1.7 billion people close to one quarter of the humanity are infected with Mycobacterium Tuberculosis the bacteria that causes TB.Last year, 10.6 million fell ill from TB and 1.6 million died. 1 Moreover, multi resistance to the current anti tuberculosis drugs is growing thus causing a serious challenge in controlling the spread of the disease worldwide.Fortunately, as we demonstrated on previous studies that Artemisia Afra infusions given with the WHO approved drugs can shorten treatment duration and resistance. 2 The objective of this pilot study is to compare 25 patients who will take WHO approved products: R [Rifampicin]; H [Isoniazid]; Z [Pyrazinamide]; E [Ethambutol] ALONE to 25 patients who will take the combination of WHO drugs along with Artemisia Afra infusions.Methods: This randomized, controlled trial involved 50 patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis at the Ijenda District Hospital in Bujumbura rural Province, Burundi in July and August 2023.Patients were randomized to receive both treatments and were randomly assigned to 2 groups: A. Group A: 25 patients received the WHO drugs [RHZE] ALONE at the recommended dose.[Control group] B. Group B: 25 patients received the combination treatment RHZE [at the recommended dose] + Artemisia Afra infusion at 330 ml three times a day.[Exploratory group]The patients of both groups were hospitalized and fed with a protein rich meal and nurses made sure that medications were taken regularly according to DOT [Directly Observed Technique]. Results:All the patients who were on the combination therapy recovered in less than a month whereas the patients who took the WHO treatment ALONE were still sick even though some symptoms were slightly reduced as you will see in the tables below. Conclusion:The combination therapy [Artemisia Afra infusions+ WHO protocol] has a lot of potential in curing tuberculosis but more studies on a larger cohort [300 patients] are encouraged.