01 Mar Single Dose of Antibiotic Can Cut Maternal Sepsis by Half
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
William A. Petri, MD PhDWade Hampton Frost Professor of Medicine and
Vice Chair for Research of the Department of Medicine
Professor of Medicine, Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology, and Pathology,
Medicine: Infectious Diseases and International Health,
Medicine: Infectious Diseases and International Health
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
MedicalResearch.com We tested if prophylactic antibiotics could prevent sepsis and death in women in the late stages of normal vaginal labor and delivery. It was previously known that antibiotic were effective for this purpose in women undergoing C-section. The study was a randomized placebo-controlled trial at 8 international sites of nearly 30,000 women.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: A single dose of the antibiotic azithromycin reduced maternal sepsis by more than half.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report, ie should azithromycin be administered to all women (not just low/middle income women),
Response: Our study from LMICs may or may not apply to high income settings. However in LMICs we expect this to become part of standard of care.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a results of this study?
Response: Maternal sepsis still remained at unacceptable levels even in the women receiving azithromycin, and the antibiotic administered to mothers had no impact on neonatal sepsis, so many opportunities going forward to discover additional interventions to improve maternal-child health.
No conflicts of Interest
Funding: NIH’s Eunce Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD); Foundation for the National Institutes of Health through the Maternal, Newborn, Child Health Discovery and Tools initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Citation:
References: Azithromycin to Prevent Sepsis or Death in Women Planning a Vaginal Birth. Tita ATN, Carlo WA, McClure EM, Mwenechanya M, Chomba E, Hemingway-Foday JJ, Kavi A, Metgud MC, Goudar SS, Derman R, Lokangaka A, Tshefu A, Bauserman M, Bose C, Shivkumar P, Waikar M, Patel A, Hibberd PL, Nyongesa P, Esamai F, Ekhaguere OA, Bucher S, Jessani S, Tikmani SS, Saleem S, Goldenberg RL, Billah SM, Lennox R, Haque R, Petri W, Figueroa L, Mazariegos M, Krebs NF, Moore JL, Nolen TL, Koso-Thomas M; A-PLUS Trial Group. N Engl J Med. 2023 Feb 9. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2212111. Online ahead of print. PMID: 36757318.
Funding: NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD); Foundation for the National Institutes of Health through the Maternal, Newborn, Child Health Discovery and Tools initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
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