A study published in the Aug. 21 issue of The Lancet provides evidence that treating entire communities with a short course of the oral antibiotic azithromycin is more effective than the standard six-week course of daily tetracycline ointment in controlling development of trachoma. Children are particularly vulnerable to infection by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, which results in trachoma, a leading cause of preventable blindness in the world.
"We have known for decades that we had the antibiotics to successfully treat this disease when cases developed, but we didn't seem to have the right drug delivery method to control the infection over time. Now we know that we do, and we are very excited at the promise of these results," says Julius Schachter, Ph.D., professor of laboratory medicine at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) and lead investigator of the study.
Trachoma affects the inner eyelid. Of the nearly 600 million people living in trachoma endemic areas, 150 million have active disease as conjunctivitis. After repeated episodes, which begin in childhood, scarring occurs, and the eyelids turn inward causing damage to the cornea. Total blindness occurs in middle to late life. In endemic communities, 25 percent of individuals age 50 to 60 may become blind. Blind adults may not be able to earn a living and can be an economic burden to families and communities.
"Six million people around the world are blind or severely disabled due to this disease," says Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). "Treatment of trachoma with azithromycin provides long-term benefits not usually available for people in developing countries." Thomas C. Quinn, M.D., of NIAID and Johns Hopkins University is a co-author of the study. NIAID, the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, Abbott Laboratories and Pfizer Inc supported the study.
Since the 1950s, the standard treatment f
'"/>
Contact: Ramie Leibnitz, Ph.D.
rleibnitz@niaid.nih.gov
301-402-1663
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
19-Aug-1999