ArticlePLOS global public health2023
Infant mortality and growth failure after oral azithromycin among low birthweight and underweight neonates: A subgroup analysis of a randomized controlled trial.
Article in PLOS global public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03682653 (Neonates and Azithromycin, an Innovation in the Treatment of Children in Burkina Faso), which is not on this map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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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.
Neonates and Azithromycin, an Innovation in the Treatment of Children in Burkina Faso
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Infant Growth After Mass Administration of Azithromycin: Secondary Outcomes of a Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2026Trial
- Azithromycin for infants at risk of poor growth and development: A pooled secondary analysis of two randomized controlled trials.PloS one · 2025Trial
- Neonatal Azithromycin Exposure and Childhood Growth: Long-Term Follow-Up of a Randomized Controlled Trial.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Trial
- Single-dose azithromycin for infant growth in Burkina Faso: Prespecified secondary anthropometric outcomes from a randomized controlled trial.PLoS medicine · 2024Trial
- Health interventions and stakeholder roles in neonatal mortality reduction within low-income countries: A scoping review.Public health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLow birthweight (birthweight <2500 grams, g) and underweight (weight-for-age Z-score, WAZ, < -2) infants have higher risk of poor outcomes compared to their well-nourished peers. We evaluated the role of azithromycin for reducing mortality and improving growth outcomes in low birthweight and/or underweight infants.
methodsInfants aged 8-27 days of age weighing ≥2500 g at enrollment in Burkina Faso were randomized 1:1 to a single, oral dose of azithromycin (20 mg/kg) or matching placebo. We evaluated mortality and anthropometric outcomes in four subgroups: 1) both low birthweight and underweight at enrollment; 2) low birthweight-only; 3) underweight-only; 4) neither low birthweight nor underweight.
findingsOf 21,832 enrolled infants, 21,320 (98%) had birthweight measurements and included in this analysis. Of these, 747 (3%) were both low birthweight and underweight, 972 (5%) were low birthweight-only, 825 (4%) were underweight-only, and 18,776 (88%) were neither low birthweight nor underweight. Infants who were both low birthweight and underweight receiving azithromycin had lower odds of underweight at 6 months compared to placebo (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.44 to 0.95), but the treatment group by subgroup interaction was not statistically significant (P = 0.06). We did not find evidence of a difference between groups for other outcomes in any subgroup.
interpretationAzithromycin may have some growth-promoting benefits for the highest risk infants, but we were unable to demonstrate a difference in most outcomes in low birthweight and underweight infants. As a secondary analysis of a trial, this study was underpowered for rare outcomes such as mortality.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03682653.
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Registered trials
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