Trachoma Elimination Follow-up

Conditions

Chlamydia, Trachoma

Keywords

Trachoma, Chlamydia, Azithromycin

Brief summary

The WHO has initiated a program to eliminate blinding trachoma by the year 2020, in large part by mass oral azithromycin distributions. It is not clear how frequently or for how long these treatments are necessary. Here we assess the frequency and duration of treatment.

Detailed description

40 villages in the Gurage Zone of Ethiopia were randomly assigned to biannual treatment, annual treatment, and a single treatment. Each treatment consisted of a single dose of oral azithromycin to the entire population over the age of 1 year (when the study was started, azithromycin had not yet been approved for ages below 1 year). We assess the prevalence the ocular chlamydia that causes trachoma in the peak prevalence age of 1-5 years at baseline, and 2, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months post treatment. An extension of the study monitors infection at 30 and 36 months post treatment. Untreated villages from the same area are enrolled in a step-wedge design to assess the presence of a secular trend. A random sample of those not within the 1-5 year old age group are examined to assess the prevalence of infection in the entire community.

Cevallos V, Whitcher JP, Melese M, Alemayehu W, Yi E, Chidambaram JD, Lee S, Reddy H, Gaynor BD, Lietman TM, Keenan JD.

2012-08-0712 citations

10.1167/iovs.12-9984

How reliable are tests for trachoma?--a latent class approach.

See CW, Alemayehu W, Melese M, Zhou Z, Porco TC, Shiboski S, Gaynor BD, Eng J, Keenan JD, Lietman TM.

2011-08-0343 citations

10.1167/iovs.11-7419

Reduction and return of infectious trachoma in severely affected communities in Ethiopia.

Lakew T, House J, Hong KC, Yi E, Alemayehu W, Melese M, Zhou Z, Ray K, Chin S, Romero E, Keenan J, Whitcher JP, Gaynor BD, Lietman TM.

2009-02-0382 citations

10.1371/journal.pntd.0000376

Comparison of annual and biannual mass antibiotic administration for elimination of infectious trachoma.

Melese M, Alemayehu W, Lakew T, Yi E, House J, Chidambaram JD, Zhou Z, Cevallos V, Ray K, Hong KC, Porco TC, Phan I, Zaidi A, Gaynor BD, Whitcher JP, Lietman TM.

2008-02-0163 citations

10.1001/jama.299.7.778

Interventions

DRUGMass treatment with oral azithromycin to an entire village

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

1 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

No

Inclusion criteria

Age 1 to 5 years old in a village in the Gurage zone with endemic trachoma

Exclusion criteria

Refusal of village chief (for village inclusion), or refusal of parent or guardian (for individual inclusion)

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
The prevalence of ocular chlamydia infection in a village as determined by PCR	—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Clinical active trachoma, as determined by the WHO simplified grading system, by village	—

Countries

Ethiopia

Outcome results

None listed