Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28253893›Full record

Trial reportReproductive health2017

Effect of suppressive acyclovir administered to HSV-2 positive mothers from week 28 to 36 weeks of pregnancy on adverse obstetric outcomes: a double-blind randomised placebo-controlled trial.

Sarah Nakubulwa, Dan K Kaye, Freddie Bwanga, Nazarius Mbona Tumwesigye, Edith Nakku-Joloba, Florence Mirembe

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Reproductive health, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 19% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. 2024 European guidelines for the management of genital herpes.Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV · 2025
    Guideline
  2. Article
  3. The Placenta as an Immunological Environment.British journal of biomedical science · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Sarah NakubulwaDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Medicine, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, P. O. Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda. sarahug@gmail.com.
Dan K KayeDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Medicine, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, P. O. Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda.
Freddie BwangaDepartment of Microbiology, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, P.O.Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda.
Nazarius Mbona TumwesigyeSchool of Public Health, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, P.O.Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda.
Edith Nakku-JolobaSchool of Public Health, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, P.O.Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda.
Florence MirembeDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Medicine, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, P. O. Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda.
Makerere University · UG

Funding

Medical Education for Services to All Ugandans (MESAU)R24TW008886 · FIC · MAKERERE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES · PI SEWANKAMBO, NELSON K · 2010 to 2015
$9.2M
FIC NIH HHS R24 TW008886Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAcyclovir (ACV) given to HSV-2 positive women after 36 weeks reduces adverse outcomes but its benefit at lower gestation was undocumented. We determined the effect of oral acyclovir administered from 28 to 36 weeks on premature rupture of membranes (PROM) primarily and preterm delivery risk.

methodsThis was a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial among 200 HSV-2 positive pregnant women at 28 weeks of gestation at Mulago Hospital, Uganda. Participants were assigned randomly (1:1) to take either acyclovir 400 mg orally twice daily (intervention) or placebo (control) from 28 to 36 weeks. Both arms received acyclovir after 36 weeks until delivery. Development of Pre-PROM by 36 weeks and preterm delivery were outcomes.

resultsOne hundred women were randomised to acyclovir and 100 to placebo arms between January 2014 and February 2015. There was tendency towards reduction of incidence of PROM at 36 weeks but this was not statistically significant (4.0% versus 10.0%; RR 0.35; 95% 0.11-1.10) in the acyclovir and placebo arms respectively. However, there was a significant reduction in the incidence of preterm delivery (11.1% versus 23.5%; RR 0.41; 95% 0.20-0.85) in the acyclovir and placebo arms respectively.

conclusionsOral acyclovir given to HSV-2 positive pregnant women from 28 to 36 weeks reduced incidence of preterm delivery but did not significantly reduce incidence of pre-PROM.

trial registrationwww.pactr.org, PACTR201311000558197 .

Indexed as

Delivery, ObstetricAcyclovirAdultAntiviral AgentsDouble-Blind MethodFemaleGestational AgeHerpes GenitalisHerpesvirus 2, HumanHumansInfant, NewbornMothersPregnancyPremature BirthPremature Rupture of Fetal MembranesUgandaAcyclovirAntiviral AgentsAcyclovirAdverse obstetric outcomesGenital herpesHerpes simplex type 2PregnancyRandomised controlled trialUganda

Identifiers

PMID28253893
PMCPMC5335854
OpenAlexW2593427742

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.