2024-02-13 01:58:33
Sepsis, a serious infection that can lead to tissue damage, organ failure and death, is one of the three leading causes of maternal death worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. The life-threatening emergency is largely preventable with early diagnosis and treatment and disproportionately affects pregnant people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
In new research to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) Annual Meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting™ researchers will reveal findings indicating that giving an oral dose of azithromycin to pregnant women who deliver vaginally is cost-saving in reducing maternal sepsis, death or infection in developing countries.
Previous studies found that giving a single oral dose of azithromycin to everyone in labor significantly reduced the risk of maternal sepsis or death in seven low- and middle-income countries. This latest study builds on that research by examining the costs versus benefits of using this intervention in these countries: Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, India, Kenya, Pakistan, and Zambia.
Using data from the Azithromycin Prevention in Labor Use (A-Plus) trial, the researchers looked at the cost of giving the antibiotic to everyone in labor compared to the healthcare costs associated with treating people with sepsis and/or infection.
The results showed that azithromycin is a low-cost intervention to prevent sepsis and a reduction in health care use, such as fewer hospital admissions and clinic visits, results in cost savings. For every 100,000 pregnancies, an oral dose of azithromycin prevented 1,592 cases of maternal sepsis, death, or infection and 249 maternal hospitalizations. The cost of administering the antibiotics was 91 cents per pregnancy. The overall analysis showed a cost savings of $32,661 per 100,000 pregnancies.
Sepsis remains the leading cause of maternal death worldwide, and the burden is greatest in low-resource settings. Ministries of health should consider the various interventions available to them and decide how to best allocate the limited resources they have. It is a big deal to have an effective treatment for maternal sepsis that also saves costs for implementation in a low-resource environment.”
Jackie Patterson, MD, the study’s lead author, is an associate professor of neonatal-perinatal medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine at Chapel Hill.
The one who presented the research on behalf of Patterson was Alan Thebent n. Tita, MD, PhD, a maternal-fetal medicine subspecialist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Mernix E. Hersanek School of Medicine, who was one of the authors of the study. Tita was also the lead author of the initial study that found that giving azithromycin to pregnant women who gave birth reduced the risk of maternal sepsis or death. This study was presented at the SMFM 2023 Annual Meeting and published in New England Journal of Medicine.
The abstract was published in the January 2024 supplement of American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
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