ArticleBMJ global health2022
Simplified dosing of oral azithromycin for children 1-11 months old in child survival programmes: age-based and height-based dosing protocols.
Article in BMJ global health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Integration of azithromycin mass administration to 1-11-month-old children into an existing health platform to reduce child mortality: a cluster-randomised trial in Burkina Faso.BMJ global health · 2026Trial
- Costs, Coverage, and Acceptability of Azithromycin Mass Administration to Children 1-11 Versus 1-59 Months Old to Reduce Mortality: A Cluster-Randomized Trial in Niger.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2025Trial
- Article
- Azithromycin mass drug administration to reduce childhood mortality in humanitarian crises.PLOS global public health · 2026Review
- Feasibility and acceptability of integrating mass distribution of azithromycin to children 1-11 months into a trachoma mass drug administration campaign to reduce child mortality in Côte d'Ivoire.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
20 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTo facilitate mass distribution of azithromycin, trachoma control programmes use height instead of weight to determine dose for children 6 months to 15 years old. WHO has recommended azithromycin distribution to children 1-11 months old to reduce mortality in high mortality settings under carefully monitored conditions. Weight was used to determine dose in children 1-5 months old in studies of azithromycin distribution for child survival, but a simplified approach using age or height for all aged 1-11 months old could increase programme efficiency in real-world settings.
methodsThis secondary analysis used data from two cluster randomised trials of azithromycin distribution for child mortality in Niger and Burkina Faso. An exhaustive search algorithm was developed to determine the optimal dose for different age groups, using tolerance limits of 10-20 mg/kg for children 1-2 months old and 15-30 mg/kg for children 3-11 months old. Height-based dosing was evaluated against the existing trachoma dosing pole and with a similar exhaustive search.
resultsThe optimal two-tiered age-based approach suggested a dose of 80 mg (2 mL) for children 1-2 months old and 160 mg (4 mL) for children 3-11 months old. Under this schedule, 89%-93% of children would have received doses within tolerance limits in both study populations. Accuracy was 93%-94% with a three-tiered approach, which resulted in doses of 80 mg (2 mL), 120 mg (3 mL) and 160 mg (4 mL) for children 1-2, 3-4 and 5-11 months old, respectively. For children 1-5 months old, the existing height pole would result in 70% of doses within tolerance limits. The optimisation identified height-based dosing options with 95% accuracy, although this would require changes to the existing dosing pole as well as additional training to measure infants lying flat.
conclusionsOverall, an age-based approach with two age tiers resulted in high accuracy while considering both concerns about overdosing in this young population and simplicity of field operations.
Indexed as
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.