Biannual Mass Azithromycin Distributions for Preschool Children and Malaria Parasitemia

Do communities in rural Niger treated with mass azithromycin distributions have lower rates of malaria parasitemia among children aged 1 to 59 months compared with untreated communities?In a cluster-randomized trial that enrolled 4726 children aged 1 to 59 months at baseline from 30 communities in Niger, communities treated with 5 years of twice-yearly mass azithromycin distributions had a lower prevalence of malaria parasitemia compared with communities treated with placebo. However, the difference was significant only for the initial 3 years of the study, before the institution of a seasonal malaria chemoprevention program that provided monthly mass antibiotics during the malaria season.These findings suggest that biannual mass azithromycin distributions were associated with a significant reduction in malaria parasitemia before, but not after, the institution of seasonal malaria chemoprevention.

Corresponding Author: Jeremy D. Keenan, MD, MPH, Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, 490 Illinois St, Box 0944, San Francisco, CA 94158 (jeremy.keenan@ucsf.edu).

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