Tweet
Volume 20, Number 6?June 2014
Research
Short-Term Malaria Reduction by Single-Dose Azithromycin during Mass Drug Administration for Trachoma, Tanzania
Article Contents
Stephen E. Schachterle<sup>1</sup>, George Mtove, Joshua P. Levens, Emily Clemens, Lirong Shi, Amrita Raj, J. Stephen Dumler, Beatriz Munoz, Shelia West, and David J. Sullivan
Author affiliations: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA (S.E. Schachterle, L. Shi, A. Raj, D.J. Sullivan); National Institute for Medical Research, Ubwari, Tanzania (G. Mtove); Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore (J.P. Levens, E. Clemens, J.S. Dumler, B. Munoz, S. West)
Suggested citation for this article
Abstract
Single-dose mass drug administration of azithromycin (AZT) is underway to eliminate trachoma worldwide. Studies in Ethiopia showed a reduction in all-cause childhood deaths after administration. To examine the effect of single-dose AZ MDA on prevalent malaria infections in a large prospective cohort of children and parents in Dodoma Province, Tanzania, we quantified the temporal prevalence of malaria parasitemia by real-time PCR for 6 months after single-dose AZT. In the first month after treatment but not in subsequent months, Plasmodium falciparum infections were reduced by 73% (95% CI 43%?89%) in treatment versus control villages and differences remained significant (p = 0.00497) in multivariate models with village-level random effects. Genetic sequencing of P. falciparum ribosomal L4 protein showed no mutations associated with AZT resistance. AZT mass drug administration caused a transient, 1-month antimalarial effect without selecting for P. falciparum ribosomal L4 resistance mutations in a region with a 10-year history of treating trachoma with this drug.
Research
Short-Term Malaria Reduction by Single-Dose Azithromycin during Mass Drug Administration for Trachoma, Tanzania
Article Contents
- Methods
- Results
- Discussion
- Acknowledgments
- References
- Figure 1
- Figure 2
- Figure 3
- Figure 4
- Table 1
- Table 2
- Table 3
- Table 4
- Technical Appendix - 46 KB
- Suggested Citation
Stephen E. Schachterle<sup>1</sup>, George Mtove, Joshua P. Levens, Emily Clemens, Lirong Shi, Amrita Raj, J. Stephen Dumler, Beatriz Munoz, Shelia West, and David J. Sullivan
Author affiliations: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA (S.E. Schachterle, L. Shi, A. Raj, D.J. Sullivan); National Institute for Medical Research, Ubwari, Tanzania (G. Mtove); Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore (J.P. Levens, E. Clemens, J.S. Dumler, B. Munoz, S. West)
Suggested citation for this article
Abstract
Single-dose mass drug administration of azithromycin (AZT) is underway to eliminate trachoma worldwide. Studies in Ethiopia showed a reduction in all-cause childhood deaths after administration. To examine the effect of single-dose AZ MDA on prevalent malaria infections in a large prospective cohort of children and parents in Dodoma Province, Tanzania, we quantified the temporal prevalence of malaria parasitemia by real-time PCR for 6 months after single-dose AZT. In the first month after treatment but not in subsequent months, Plasmodium falciparum infections were reduced by 73% (95% CI 43%?89%) in treatment versus control villages and differences remained significant (p = 0.00497) in multivariate models with village-level random effects. Genetic sequencing of P. falciparum ribosomal L4 protein showed no mutations associated with AZT resistance. AZT mass drug administration caused a transient, 1-month antimalarial effect without selecting for P. falciparum ribosomal L4 resistance mutations in a region with a 10-year history of treating trachoma with this drug.
