Two grams of azithromycin reduced the risk of septicemia or death for mothers during vaginal delivery by half. A practice to be adopted: infections are among the top five causes of maternal mortality worldwide
A single dose of a common antibiotic reduces the risk of death during childbirth vaginal. This was discovered by a new large study carried out by the University of Virginia health system recently published in the important scientific journal New England Journal of Medicine
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The results
The team that analyzed the data brought together more than 29,000 women in low- and middle-income countries who volunteered to take part in the randomized study: half of them received azithromycin and the other half a placebo. It was a single oral dose of 2 g. Among 14,637 women who received the placebo, 2.4% developed sepsis (septicemia, see further on, ed) or died within six weeks. This compares with 1.6% of 14,526 women who received azithromycin. The difference was so dramatic that the researchers stopped the study early. The antibiotic did not provide similar benefits for the children.
The comment
The antibiotic already recommended for i cesarean deliveries in the United States and other countries because previous studies done with cesarean deliveries had shown the protective effect. A single dose of the antibiotic azithromycin it reduced sepsis and death by half in laboring women, said researcher William A. Petri Jr., MD, PhD, of the Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. The simplicity of this intervention should allow its institution around the world to protect mothers during childbirth.
Sepsis (like infections in general) is responsible for 10% of maternal deaths shortly before, during and after childbirth: among the top five causes of maternal mortality worldwide (see files below, ed).
February 15, 2023 (change February 15, 2023 | 09:15 am)
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