Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41996390›Full record

Trial reportPloS one2026

Impact of prophylactic oral azithromycin during labor on Azithromycin Resistance (AMR) in nasal Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae in women and infants in the multi-country Azithromycin Prevention in Labor Use Study (A-PLUS).

Patricia L Hibberd, Jean H Kim, Marissa Trotta, Sixto M Leal, Anna Aceituno, Doyle V Ward, Archana Patel, Akila Subramaniam, Waldemar A Carlo, Imran Ahmed and 21 more

Abstract readRandomized Controlled TrialMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Trial report in PloS one, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

31 authors.

Patricia L HibberdDepartment of Global Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7455-8117
Jean H KimSocial, Statistical and Environmental Health Sciences, RTI International, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
Marissa TrottaSocial, Statistical and Environmental Health Sciences, RTI International, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
Sixto M LealDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America.
Anna AceitunoSocial, Statistical and Environmental Health Sciences, RTI International, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
Doyle V WardDepartment of Microbiology, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4952-824X
Archana PatelLata Medical Research Foundation, Nagpur, India.
Akila SubramaniamDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America.
Waldemar A CarloDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America.
Imran AhmedDepartment of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4422-5650
Sarah SaleemDepartment of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Sk Masum BillahInternational Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (icddr, b), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Rashidun HaqueInternational Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (icddr, b), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Manolo MazariegosInstituto de Nutrición de Centroamérica y Panamá, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Fabian EsamaiMoi University School of Medicine, Eldoret, Kenya.
Manjunath S SomannavarKLE Academy Higher Education and Research, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Belagavi, Karnataka, India.
Shivaprasad S GoudarKLE Academy Higher Education and Research, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Belagavi, Karnataka, India.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8680-7053
Elwyn ChombaUniversity of Zambia University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia.
Muska MwenchanyaUniversity of Zambia University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia.
Adrien LokangakaKinshasa School of Public Health, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Antoinette TshefuKinshasa School of Public Health, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Robert L GoldenbergDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Columbia University School of Medicine, New York, United States of America.
Melissa BausermanDepartment of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4992-9895
Nancy F KrebsUniversity of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, Colorado, United States of America.
Sherri BucherIndiana School of Public Health, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America.
Richard J DermanDivision of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
William A PetriDepartment of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virigina, United States of America.
Marion Koso-ThomasEunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America.
Denise C BabineauSocial, Statistical and Environmental Health Sciences, RTI International, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9776-9080
Elizabeth M McClureSocial, Statistical and Environmental Health Sciences, RTI International, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
Alan T N TitaDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America.

Funding

The University of North Carolina-Kinshasa School of Public Health Research Partnership in the Democratic Republic of Congo; a Model for Improving Women'sand Children's Health Through ResearchUG1HD076465 · NICHD · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI MELISSA SCHWEIKHART BAUSERMAN · 2018 to 2026
$5.6M
TJU-JNMC Global Network for Women's & Children's Health Research UnitUG1HD076457 · NICHD · THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY · PI RICHARD J DERMAN · 2018 to 2026
$5.5M
Nutrition-specific interventions to improve long-term maternal-child health outcomesUG1HD076474 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · PI Edwin Jose Asturias, NANCY F KREBS · 2018 to 2026
$5.4M
University of Virginia - icddr,b Research Unit for Women's and Children's Health ResearchUG1HD096730 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA · PI Christian A Chisholm · 2018 to 2026
$5.3M
NICHD NIH HHS UG1 HD076457NICHD NIH HHS UG1 HD076465NICHD NIH HHS UG1 HD076474NICHD NIH HHS UG1 HD096730
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundProphylactic oral azithromycin vs. placebo reduced maternal, but not neonatal, mortality/sepsis in the A-PLUS Randomized Trial. While prophylactic intrapartum azithromycin reduces maternal mortality/sepsis, it may promote antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in commensal bacteria,.

methodsRandomly selected women and their infants participating in A-PLUS were enrolled in a longitudinal cross-sectional sub-study to assess the presence of azithromycin resistance in selected bacteria in nasal cultures. Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae were cultured on selective agar, then azithromycin-containing agar to select for azithromycin resistant bacteria, identified biochemically. Azithromycin susceptibility was assessed by E-test. Nasal cultures were collected from women and infants between August 11, 2021 and September 18, 2023 during labor/day 1, day 7, 6 weeks, and 3, 6 and 12 months after delivery.

resultsThe study enrolled 911 women and 915 liveborn infants at 8 sites in 7 countries. Azithromycin resistance in S aureus was higher and azithromycin susceptibility was lower in women receiving azithromycin compared with those receiving placebo on day 7 (P < 0.001), 6 weeks (P < 0.001) and 3 months (P = 0.009) after delivery. Azithromycin resistance in S aureus was also higher and azithromycin susceptibility was lower 6 weeks after delivery (P < 0.001) in infants born to women receiving azithromycin, Azithromycin resistance in S. pneumoniae was too sparse to interpret.

conclusionsThere was an increase in prevalence of azithromycin resistance (or reduction in azithromycin susceptibility) in commensal nasal S. aureus between day 7, 6 weeks and 3 months in women exposed to azithromycin vs. placebo and only at 6 weeks in infants exposed to azithromycin vs. placebo. These differences between the azithromycin and placebo groups were no longer detected at 6 and 12 months post-partum in the women and after 6 weeks through 12 months in the infants.

Indexed as

Anti-Bacterial AgentsAzithromycinDrug Resistance, BacterialStaphylococcus aureusStreptococcus pneumoniaeAdministration, OralAdultAntibiotic ProphylaxisCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansInfantInfant, NewbornLabor, ObstetricLongitudinal StudiesPregnancyAnti-Bacterial AgentsAzithromycin

Identifiers

PMID41996390
PMCPMC13089724

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.