Mass antibiotic treatment may wipe out trachoma

	Tweet

A single population-wide dose of antibiotic can virtually eliminate the blinding disease trachoma, a study said on Wednesday, although other researchers warned high levels of infection could hinder the drugs’ success.

Trachoma, an infectious disease caused by a form of the bacterium Chlamydia, is found mostly in places with poor hygiene and affects about 84 million people in 55 countries, according to Silvio Mariotti of the World Health Organization in Geneva.

In about 7.6 million of those sufferers, the illness has caused the eyelashes to turn inward, the constant rubbing of which against the cornea can in time lead to blindness.

But a study published in Thursday’s edition of The New England Journal of Medicine showed that antibiotic treatment can almost eliminate the ailment.

A team led by Anthony Solomon of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine gave the antibiotic azithromycin to nearly all of the 978 residents of a village in Tanzania.

People with active disease periodically received antibiotic eye ointment as well.

At the beginning of the study, 9.5 percent of the population, or 95 people, had the infection. Two years later, only 1 person out of 842 tested was still infected.

“The prevalence and intensity of infection fell dramatically and remained low for two years after treatment,” the Solomon team concluded.

But in an editorial in the Journal, Mariotti cautioned that the technique may not work in others areas with trachoma.

In some communities, Mariotti said, the infection rate may be as high as 80 percent and it could be difficult to get so many people to take the antibiotic at the same time.

The researchers also acknowledged that improvements in hygiene might have contributed to the result.

Furthermore, past attempts to use antibiotics to wipe out the disease have produced mixed results and such treatments can be expensive and hard to administer in developing countries. 

RELATED STORIES:
Removing kids’ tonsils often not very helpful   Screening Changes Could Help Detect Deaf Newborns   Hear Today…Gone Tomorrow   The great tonsil dilemma   Genetic mutation a strong indicator of age-related hearing loss risk   Kids with Hearing Loss in One Ear Fall Behind in Language Skills   Air pollution stunts lung development in teens   Do you hear what i see?   Loud music no threat to ears, teens tell study   Laser therapy improves bad breath for some   Soft palate implants safely reduce snoring   Study Examines Hearing Loss, Viagra Use

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]