Title

Azithromycin for Uncomplicated Severe Acute Malnutrition in Burkina Faso (Pilot)
Azithromycin as Adjunctive Therapy for Uncomplicated Severe Acute Malnutrition:
  • Phase

    Phase 4
  • Study Type

    Interventional
  • Study Participants

    301
This pilot study is a randomized controlled trial designed to test the effect of the administration of adjunctive azithromycin in conjunction with standard outpatient treatment for uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in children aged 6-59 months. Children presenting to nutritional programs in Burkina Faso who meet eligibility criteria will be randomized to a single dose of oral azithromycin or a 7-day course of amoxicillin (standard of care) upon admission into the program. All enrolled children will receive ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF). Enrolled children will be followed at each weekly clinic follow-up visit up to 8 weeks following admission. Data on anthropometric indicators, vital status, and adverse events will be collected during follow-up. Nutritional recovery over the 8-week study period will be compared by arm.
Study Started
Jun 03
2020
Primary Completion
Dec 25
2020
Study Completion
Dec 25
2020
Results Posted
Sep 01
2022
Last Update
Sep 01
2022

Drug Azithromycin

Children enrolled in the trial and randomized to azithromycin will receive a single directly observed dose of oral azithromycin at 20 mg/kg up to the maximum adult dose of 1 g. Oral azithromycin will be administered at the time of enrollment. Enrolled children will also receive RUTF.

  • Other names: Zithromax

Drug Amoxicillin

Children enrolled in the trial and randomized to azithromycin will receive a 7-day course of oral amoxcillin given in twice-daily doses of 50-100 mg/kg, per the Burkina Faso guidelines for the management of severe acute malnutrition. The first dose will be administered at the time of enrollment and the remaining dose will be administered by the caregiver at home. Enrolled children will also receive RUTF.

Azithromycin Experimental

children in this arm will receive one dose of azithromycin

Amoxicillin Active Comparator

Children in this arm will receive a 7 day course of amoxicillin (standard of care)

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

Age 6-59 months
WHZ <-3 SD or MUAC <115 mm
No nutritional edema
Able and willing to participate in full 8-week study
Has not been admitted to a nutritional program for the treatment of SAM in the 3 preceeding months
No antibiotic use in past 7 days
No clinical complications requiring inpatient treatment (except for routine admission for children <6 months)
No congenital abnormality or chronic debilitating illness that would lead to predictable growth faltering or reduce likelihood of SAM treatment benefit (such as cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, congenital heart disease, cleft lip/palate, etc)
No allergy to macrolides/azalides
Sufficient appetite according to a feeding test with ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF)
Appropriate consent from at least one parent or guardian

Exclusion Criteria:

Age <6 months or >59 months
WHZ ≥-3 SD or MUAC ≥115 mm
Nutritional edema
Not able or willing to participate in full 8-week study
Admission to a nutritional program for the treatment of SAM in the 3 preceeding months
Antibiotic use in past 7 days
Clinical complications requiring inpatient treatment
Congenital abnormality or chronic debilitating illness that would lead to predictable growth faltering or reduce likelihood of SAM treatment benefit (such as cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, congenital heart disease, cleft lip/palate, etc)
Allergy to macrolides/azalides
Insufficient appetite according to a feeding test with ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF)
Parent or guardian refuses to provide consent

Summary

Azithromycin

Amoxicillin

All Events

Event Type Organ System Event Term Azithromycin Amoxicillin

Weight Gain

Weight will be measured at all follow-up time points and weight gain will be calculated at 8 weeks

Azithromycin

1.8
g/kg/day (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 2.1

Amoxicillin

2.0
g/kg/day (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 2.2

Nutritional Recovery - Primary Definition

Nutritional recovery is defined as, depending on admission criteria: weight-for-height/length is equal to or more than -2 Z-score and the child have had no oedema for at least 2 weeks, or the mid-upper-arm circumference is equal to or more than 125 mm and the child have had no oedema for at least 2 weeks. Anthropometric outcomes were defined according to the 2006 World Health Organization's Child Growth Standards: Stunted is length/height-for-age below the -2 z-score line. Severely stunted is below the -3 z-score line

Azithromycin

Amoxicillin

Nutritional Recovery - Secondary Definition

Summarize the cumulative proportion recovered by arm. Children are considered recovered if they had mean upper arm circumference > 12.5 or weight-for-height/length > -2 for 2 consecutive measurements. Additionally, it includes children who had had mean upper arm circumference >12.5 or weight-for-height/length > -2 on their final measurement, regardless of whether they met these criteria on the previous visit.

Azithromycin

Amoxicillin

Malaria

Rapid diagnostic tests for malaria will be conducted at baseline and week 8 to determine malaria infection status.

Azithromycin

Amoxicillin

Mortality

Vital status will be assessed at all follow-up time points and mortality will be defined as death during the study period.

Azithromycin

Amoxicillin

Length/Height-for-age Z-score (LAZ/HAZ)

Height or length will be measured at all follow-up time points and height-for-age z-scores will be calculated. A z-score of 0 represents the population mean. The z-score will be positive if the data value lies above the mean, and negative if the data value lies below the mean. Anthropometric outcomes were defined according to the 2006 World Health Organization's Child Growth Standards: Stunted is length/height-for-age below the -2 z-score line. Severely stunted is below the -3 z-score line

Azithromycin

-2.3
Z-score (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 1.5

Amoxicillin

-2.37
Z-score (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 1.5

Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC)

Mid-upper arm circumference will be measured at all follow-up time points

Azithromycin

12.4
cm (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 0.8

Amoxicillin

12.3
cm (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 0.8

Weight-for-Age Z-scores (WAZ)

Weight will be measured at all follow-up time points and weight-for-age z-scores will be calculated. A z-score of 0 represents the population mean. The z-score will be positive if the data value lies above the mean, and negative if the data value lies below the mean. Anthropometric outcomes were defined according to the 2006 World Health Organization's Child Growth Standards: Underweight is weight-for-age below the -2 z-score line. Severely underweight is below the -3 z-score line.

Azithromycin

-2.58
Z-score (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 1.1

Amoxicillin

-2.65
Z-score (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 1.1

Weight-for-Height Z-score (WHZ)

Weight and height, assessed at all follow-up time points, will be used to calculate weight-for-height z-scores. A z-score of 0 represents the population mean. The z-score will be positive if the data value lies above the mean, and negative if the data value lies below the mean. Anthropometric outcomes were defined according to the 2006 World Health Organization's Child Growth Standards: Overweight is weight-for-length/height above the 2 z-score line. Severely overweight; weight-for-length/height above the 3 z-score line

Azithromycin

-1.89
Z-score (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 1.2

Amoxicillin

-1.95
Z-score (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 1.0

Intestinal Microbiome

baseline and 8 week intestinal microbiome will be compared between the 2 arms alpha diversity using inverse Simpson's index and Shannon's index, expressed in effective number. The Shannon Diversity Index is a quantitative measure that reflects how many different bacterial species there are in a sample. The greater the index, the more diverse the gut microbiota. An index of 0 indicates a community that only has one species. A negative change indicates a decrease in diversity and a positive change indicates an increase in diversity. The Simpson's Diversity Index is a measure of diversity which takes into account the number of species present, as well as the relative abundance of each species. As species richness and evenness increase, so diversity increases. The value ranges between 0 and 1, where 1 represents infinite diversity and 0, no diversity.

Azithromycin

Baseline Shannon's Index

6.6
Index (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 4.4

Baseline Simpson's Index

4.0
Index (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 2.6

Week 8 Shannon's Index

7.5
Index (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 4.6

Week 8 Simpson's Index

4.5
Index (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 2.8

Amoxicillin

Baseline Shannon's Index

8.3
Index (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 5.6

Baseline Simpson's Index

5.1
Index (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 3.5

Week 8 Shannon's Index

9.1
Index (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 5.8

Week 8 Simpson's Index

5.3
Index (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 2.9

Total

301
Participants

Age, Continuous

16.7
months (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 8.4

Curently breastfeeding

212
Participants

Exclusively breastfeeding

21
Participants

HAZ (Height for Age Z-score)

-2.4
Z score (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 1.6

Height

71.9
cm (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 6.6

Mother's age

26.1
years (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 6.1

MUAC (Middle Upper Arm Circumference)

11.2
cm (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 0.5

Number of children under 5 in the household

1.9
Children (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 1.6

Weight

6.7
Kg (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 1.3

Age, Categorical

Race (NIH/OMB)

Region of Enrollment

Sex: Female, Male

Overall Study

Azithromycin

Amoxicillin