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Published on: January 16, 2015
Azithromycin versus Amoxicillin and Malarial Parasitemia among Children with Uncomplicated Severe Acute Malnutrition:
Ali Sié1, Clarisse Dah1, Millogo Ourohiré1
1Centre de Recherche en Santé de Nouna, Burkina Faso.
Insights
Azithromycin did not improve malaria outcomes in children with severe acute malnutrition compared to amoxicillin. This study found no significant difference in parasitemia between the two antibiotic treatments for these children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Infectious Diseases
- Global Health
Background:
- Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in children is a critical global health issue.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends antibiotics for managing uncomplicated SAM.
- Azithromycin, an antibiotic with known antimalarial properties, was investigated for potential benefits beyond standard SAM treatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the efficacy of azithromycin versus amoxicillin in improving malarial parasitemia outcomes in children with uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition.
- To assess if the antimalarial properties of azithromycin offer additional benefits in this vulnerable pediatric population.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled trial involving 301 children diagnosed with uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition.
- Participants were assigned to receive either a single oral dose of azithromycin or a 7-day course of amoxicillin.
- Children were monitored for 8 weeks to evaluate malarial parasitemia outcomes.
Main Results:
- No statistically significant difference was observed in malarial parasitemia outcomes between children treated with azithromycin and those treated with amoxicillin.
- The study did not find evidence that azithromycin provided superior malaria-related benefits compared to amoxicillin in this cohort.
Conclusions:
- While azithromycin offers potential advantages in dosing and administration for uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition, it does not appear to improve malaria outcomes compared to amoxicillin.
- Current antibiotic recommendations for uncomplicated SAM management may not need revision based on malaria outcome benefits of azithromycin.
Abstract:
Antibiotics are recommended by the WHO as part of the management of uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition in children. We evaluated whether azithromycin, an antibiotic with antimalarial properties, improved malarial parasitemia outcomes in children with severe acute malnutrition compared with amoxicillin, an antibiotic commonly used for severe acute malnutrition that does not have antimalarial properties. Total of 301 children were randomized (1:1) to a single oral dose of azithromycin or a 7-day course of amoxicillin and followed for 8 weeks. We found no significant evidence that children receiving azithromycin had improved parasitemia outcomes relative to amoxicillin. Although azithromycin may have advantages over amoxicillin in terms of dosing and administration for uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition, it may not yield additional benefit for malaria outcomes.
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