Child Health Outcomes After Presumptive Infection Treatment in Pregnant Women: A Randomized Trial

We showed earlier that presumptive infection treatment in pregnancy reduced the prevalence of neonatal stunting in a rural low-income setting. In this article, we assess how these gains were sustained and reflected in childhood growth, development, and mortality.

We enrolled 1320 pregnant Malawian women in a randomized trial and treated them for malaria and other infections with either 2 doses of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) (control), monthly SP, or monthly sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and 2 doses of azithromycin (AZI-SP). Child height or length and mortality were recorded at 1, 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 months and development at 60 months by using Griffith's Mental Development Scales.

Throughout follow-up, the mean child length was 0.4 to 0.7 cm higher (P < .05 at 1-12 months), the prevalence of stunting was 6 to 11 percentage points lower (P < .05 at 12-36 months), and the 5-year cumulative incidence of stunting was 13 percentage points lower (hazard ratio: 0.70, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.60 to 0.83, P < .001) in the AZI-SP group than in the control group. The mean developmental score was 3.8 points higher in the AZI-SP group than in the control group (95% CI: 1.1 to 6.4, P = .005). Total mortality during pregnancy and childhood was 15.3%, 15.1%, and 13.1% (P = .60) in the control, monthly SP, and AZI-SP groups, respectively. Postneonatal mortality (secondary outcome) was 5.5%, 3.3%, and 1.9%, respectively (risk ratio of AZI-SP versus control: 0.34, 95% CI: 0.15 to 0.76, P = .008).

Provision of AZI-SP rather than 2 doses of SP during pregnancy reduced the incidence of stunting in childhood. AZI-SP during pregnancy also had a positive effect on child development and may have reduced postneonatal mortality.