JAMA
Comparison of Annual and Biannual Mass Antibiotic Administration for Elimination of Infectious Trachoma
Muluken Melese, MD, MPH; Wondu Alemayehu, MD, MPH; Takele Lakew, MD, MPH; Elizabeth Yi, MPH; Jenafir House, MPH, MSW; Jaya D. Chidambaram, MBBS; Zhaoxia Zhou, BA; Vicky Cevallos, MT; Kathryn Ray, MA; Kevin Cyrus Hong, BA; Travis C. Porco, PhD, MPH; Isabella Phan, MD; Ali Zaidi, MD; Bruce D. Gaynor, MD; John P. Whitcher, MD, MPH; Thomas M. Lietman, MD
Context: Treatment recommendations assume that repeated mass antibiotic distributions can control, but not eradicate or even locally eliminate, the ocular strains of chlamydia that cause trachoma. Elimination may be an important end point because of concern that infection will return to communities that have lost immunity to chlamydia after antibiotics are discontinued.
Objective: To determine whether biannual treatment can eliminate ocular chlamydial infection from preschool children and to compare results with the . . . [Full Text of this Article]