Trial reportThe New England journal of medicine2013
Antibiotics as part of the management of severe acute malnutrition.
Trial report in The New England journal of medicine, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 4 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 158 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Oral Antibiotics in the Community-based Treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition in Malawian Children
Azithromycin to Prevent Post-discharge Morbidity and Mortality in Kenyan Children
Pharmacokinetics of Antimicrobials and Carriage of Antimicrobial Resistance Amongst Hospitalised Children With Severe Acute Malnutrition
First Line Antimicrobials in Children With Complicated Severe Acute Malnutrition
Who cites it
158 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 344 citations in OpenAlex.
- Postdischarge interventions for children hospitalized with severe acute malnutrition: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Guidelines for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition: a systematic review of the evidence for antimicrobial therapy.Paediatrics and international child health · 2018Pooled it
- Common harms from amoxicillin: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials for any indication.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2015Pooled it
- The impact of antibiotics on growth in children in low and middle income countries: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2014Pooled it
- Review of the safety and efficacy of vitamin A supplementation in the treatment of children with severe acute malnutrition.Nutrition journal · 2013Pooled it
- Treatment of severe and moderate acute malnutrition in low- and middle-income settings: a systematic review, meta-analysis and Delphi process.BMC public health · 2013Pooled it
- Effect of azithromycin on post-discharge growth in Kenyan children.BMJ global health · 2025Trial
- A Pilot Study of Enterade (VS001), an Oral Amino Acid Formulation, in Malnourished Bangladeshi Children with Environmental Enteric Dysfunction.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2025Trial
- Azithromycin for infants at risk of poor growth and development: A pooled secondary analysis of two randomized controlled trials.PloS one · 2025Trial
- Effect of maternal postnatal balanced energy protein supplementation and infant azithromycin on infant growth outcomes: an open-label randomized controlled trial.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2024Trial
- Effects of Formula-100 therapeutic milk andNarra J · 2024Trial
- Three-arm clinical trial of improved flour targeting intestinal microbiota (MALINEA).Maternal & child nutrition · 2024Trial
- Malnutrition enteropathy in Zambian and Zimbabwean children with severe acute malnutrition: A multi-arm randomized phase II trial.Nature communications · 2024Trial
- Single-dose azithromycin for infant growth in Burkina Faso: Prespecified secondary anthropometric outcomes from a randomized controlled trial.PLoS medicine · 2024Trial
- Gut Microbiome among Children with Uncomplicated Severe Acute Malnutrition in a Randomized Controlled Trial of Azithromycin versus Amoxicillin.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2023Trial
- Gut Resistome after Antibiotics among Children with Uncomplicated Severe Acute Malnutrition: A Randomized Controlled Trial.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2022Trial
- Low linoleic acid foods with added DHA given to Malawian children with severe acute malnutrition improve cognition: a randomized, triple-blinded, controlled clinical trial.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2022Trial
- Comparing Azithromycin to Amoxicillin in the Management of Uncomplicated Severe Acute Malnutrition in Burkina Faso: A Pilot Randomized Trial.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2022Trial
- Effect of Mass Azithromycin Distributions on Childhood Growth in Niger: A Cluster-Randomized Trial.JAMA network open · 2021Trial
- Azithromycin versus Amoxicillin and Malarial Parasitemia among Children with Uncomplicated Severe Acute Malnutrition: A Randomized Controlled Trial.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2021Trial
98 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSevere acute malnutrition contributes to 1 million deaths among children annually. Adding routine antibiotic agents to nutritional therapy may increase recovery rates and decrease mortality among children with severe acute malnutrition treated in the community.
methodsIn this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, we randomly assigned Malawian children, 6 to 59 months of age, with severe acute malnutrition to receive amoxicillin, cefdinir, or placebo for 7 days in addition to ready-to-use therapeutic food for the outpatient treatment of uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition. The primary outcomes were the rate of nutritional recovery and the mortality rate.
resultsA total of 2767 children with severe acute malnutrition were enrolled. In the amoxicillin, cefdinir, and placebo groups, 88.7%, 90.9%, and 85.1% of the children recovered, respectively (relative risk of treatment failure with placebo vs. amoxicillin, 1.32; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04 to 1.68; relative risk with placebo vs. cefdinir, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.27 to 2.11). The mortality rates for the three groups were 4.8%, 4.1%, and 7.4%, respectively (relative risk of death with placebo vs. amoxicillin, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.07 to 2.24; relative risk with placebo vs. cefdinir, 1.80; 95% CI, 1.22 to 2.64). Among children who recovered, the rate of weight gain was increased among those who received antibiotics. No interaction between type of severe acute malnutrition and intervention group was observed for either the rate of nutritional recovery or the mortality rate.
conclusionsThe addition of antibiotics to therapeutic regimens for uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition was associated with a significant improvement in recovery and mortality rates. (Funded by the Hickey Family Foundation and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01000298.).
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.