Azithromycin Fails To Prevent Infant Deaths When Provided At Routine Healthcare Visits In Burkina Faso, Trial Shows

MedPage Today (1/17, Kahn) reports, “Azithromycin did not prevent infant deaths when provided at routine healthcare visits in the West African country of Burkina Faso, a randomized controlled trial demonstrated.” The research found that “among infants who received a single oral dose of azithromycin at routine visits, 0.52% died before 6 months of age compared with 0.48% who received a placebo.” The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Healio (1/17, Weldon) reports “the evidence showed no effect of azithromycin on mortality in any of the prespecified subgroups, including subgroups defined according to age, sex and baseline weight, and no difference between the two trial groups in the incidence of adverse events.”