Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Oct 25;13(10):e0206348.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206348. eCollection 2018.

Long-lasting effect of oral azithromycin taken by women during labour on infant nutrition: Follow-up cohort of a randomized clinical trial in western Gambia

Anna Roca  1 , Bully Camara  1 , Claire Oluwalana  1 , Kodou Lette  1 , Christian Bottomley  2 , Umberto D'Alessandro  1
Affiliations

Long-lasting effect of oral azithromycin taken by women during labour on infant nutrition: Follow-up cohort of a randomized clinical trial in western Gambia

Anna Roca et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objective: To assess the effect of administering an oral dose of 2g of azithromycin in Gambian women during labour on infant growth.

Methods: Children whose mothers had been randomized to receive either an oral dose of 2g of azithromycin or placebo during labour were visited at home at the end of infancy by trained study nurses blind to the treatment allocation. The follow-up visit of these cohorts (exposed and non-exposed to azithromycin), which was not part of the original trial design, was conducted between November 2014 and May 2015 when the infants were 11 to 13 months of age. During visits, nurses recorded anthropometrical measurements and transcribed information from the infants' welfare cards.

Results: Four-hundred and sixty-five (79.6%) of the 584 infants aged 11-13 months at the time of the survey were recruited. The proportion of children with an age-adjusted Z-score <-2SD for mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) was lower among those exposed to azithromycin [1.3% versus 6.3%, OR = 0.21 95%CI (0.06,0.72), p = 0.006] and there was weak evidence of a difference in the proportion of infants with weight-for-age (WAZ) Z-score <-2SD [7.1% versus 12.1%, OR = 0.58 95%CI (0.33,1.04), p = 0.065]. For all other malnutrition indicators the proportions were similar in the exposed and un-exposed cohort.

Conclusions: Our results show that azithromycin in labour may have a beneficial effect in MUAC among children who are below the curve. Larger studies with closer follow-up are warranted.

Trial registration (main trial): ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01800942.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

References

    1. Harding-Esch EM, Edwards T, Mkocha H, Munoz B, Holland MJ, Burr SE, Sillah A, Gaydos CA, Stare D, Mabey DC, Bailey RL, West SK (2010) Trachoma prevalence and associated risk factors in the gambia and Tanzania: baseline results of a cluster randomised controlled trial. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 4: e861 10.1371/journal.pntd.0000861 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Porco TC, Gebre T, Ayele B, House J, Keenan J, Zhou Z, Hong KC, Stoller N, Ray KJ, Emerson P, Gaynor BD, Lietman TM (2009) Effect of mass distribution of azithromycin for trachoma control on overall mortality in Ethiopian children: a randomized trial. JAMA 302: 962–968. 302/9/962 [pii]; 10.1001/jama.2009.1266 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Burr SE, Milne S, Jafali J, Bojang E, Rajasekhar M, Hart J, Harding-Esch EM, Holland MJ, Mabey DC, Sillah A, Bailey RL, Roca A (2014) Mass administration of azithromycin and Streptococcus pneumoniae carriage: cross-sectional surveys in the Gambia. Bull World Health Organ 92: 490–498. 10.2471/BLT.13.133462 BLT.13.133462 [pii]. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gough EK, Moodie EE, Prendergast AJ, Johnson SM, Humphrey JH, Stoltzfus RJ, Walker AS, Trehan I, Gibb DM, Goto R, Tahan S, de Morais MB, Manges AR (2014) The impact of antibiotics on growth in children in low and middle income countries: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. BMJ 348: g2267 10.1136/bmj.g2267 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Luntamo M, Kulmala T, Cheung YB, Maleta K, Ashorn P (2013) The effect of antenatal monthly sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine, alone or with azithromycin, on foetal and neonatal growth faltering in Malawi: a randomised controlled trial. Trop Med Int Health 18: 386–397. 10.1111/tmi.12074 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data