Trial reportPLoS neglected tropical diseases2014
Does mass azithromycin distribution impact child growth and nutrition in Niger? A cluster-randomized trial.
Trial report in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 3 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Secondary Effects from Mass Azithromycin Administration: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2022Pooled it
- Antibiotics for trachoma.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Mass Azithromycin Distribution to Prevent Childhood Mortality: A Pooled Analysis of Cluster-Randomized Trials.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2019Pooled it
- Infant Growth After Mass Administration of Azithromycin: Secondary Outcomes of a Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2026Trial
- Impact of biannual azithromycin on weight-for-age z-score among infants in the AVENIR cluster-randomised trial.BMJ paediatrics open · 2025Trial
- Single-dose azithromycin for infant growth in Burkina Faso: Prespecified secondary anthropometric outcomes from a randomized controlled trial.PLoS medicine · 2024Trial
- Effect of 3 Days of Oral Azithromycin on Young Children With Acute Diarrhea in Low-Resource Settings: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2021Trial
- Effect of Mass Azithromycin Distributions on Childhood Growth in Niger: A Cluster-Randomized Trial.JAMA network open · 2021Trial
- Single-dose azithromycin for child growth in Burkina Faso: a randomized controlled trial.BMC pediatrics · 2021Trial
- Gut microbiome alteration in MORDOR I: a community-randomized trial of mass azithromycin distribution.Nature medicine · 2019Trial
- Linear growth in preschool children treated with mass azithromycin distributions for trachoma: A cluster-randomized trial.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2019Trial
- Anthropometry and Malaria among Children in Niger: A Cross-Sectional Study.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2018Trial
- The Effect of Mass Azithromycin Distribution on Childhood Mortality: Beliefs and Estimates of Efficacy.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2015Trial
- Mass azithromycin distribution and nutritional status among children aged 1-59 months: A secondary analysis of a cluster randomized trial.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Malaria Parasitemia and Nutritional Status during the Low Transmission Season in the Presence of Azithromycin Distribution among Preschool Children in Niger.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2020Article
- Comparison of anthropometric indicators to predict mortality in a population-based prospective study of children under 5 years in Niger.Public health nutrition · 2020Article
- Epidemiology and Impact of Campylobacter Infection in Children in 8 Low-Resource Settings: Results From the MAL-ED Study.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAntibiotic use on animals demonstrates improved growth regardless of whether or not there is clinical evidence of infectious disease. Antibiotics used for trachoma control may play an unintended benefit of improving child growth. METHODOLOGY: In this sub-study of a larger randomized controlled trial, we assess anthropometry of pre-school children in a community-randomized trial of mass oral azithromycin distributions for trachoma in Niger. We measured height, weight, and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) in 12 communities randomized to receive annual mass azithromycin treatment of everyone versus 12 communities randomized to receive biannual mass azithromycin treatments for children, 3 years after the initial mass treatment. We collected measurements in 1,034 children aged 6-60 months of age. PRINCIPAL
findingsWe found no difference in the prevalence of wasting among children in the 12 annually treated communities that received three mass azithromycin distributions compared to the 12 biannually treated communities that received six mass azithromycin distributions (odds ratio = 0.88, 95% confidence interval = 0.53 to 1.49). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We were unable to demonstrate a statistically significant difference in stunting, underweight, and low MUAC of pre-school children in communities randomized to annual mass azithromycin treatment or biannual mass azithromycin treatment. The role of antibiotics on child growth and nutrition remains unclear, but larger studies and longitudinal trials may help determine any association.
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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.