Randomised controlled trial of azithromycin to reduce the morbidity of severe bronchiolitis in young Indigenous children

• Reach:

  National

• Focus area:

  Indigenous

• Status:

  Current

• Evaluated:

  No

Overview

This research will investigate bronchiolitis in young Indigenous children and the clinical effectiveness of the drug azithromycin compared with a placebo in treating the illness. In addition to this primary investigation the research will also look at other issues relating to acute lower respiratory tract infections in Indigenous children, specifically:

• determining the effectiveness of treatment on readmissions to hospital within 6 months
• examining if macrolide* resistant respiratory pathogens (germs) found in swabs taken from the nasal part of the throat influence the severity of the illness
• assessing the short-term impact of azithromycin on macrolide resistant patterns of respiratory germs in the nasal part of the throat
• describing the number of cases of specific respiratory diseases (mycoplasma pneumoniae and chlamydia) present in this population at a certain time and the diversity of the disease using specific sensitive molecular diagnostic techniques.

This research will draw participants from the Royal Darwin Hospital and the Townsville Hospital.

*Macrolide is one in a class of antibiotics that inhibits the growth of bacteria and is often prescribed to treat common bacterial infections.

Contacts

Menzies School of Health Research
Email: gabrielle.mccallum@menzies.edu.au

Links

• View information: Randomised controlled trial of azithromycin to reduce the morbidity of severe bronchiolitis in young Indigenous children
• View website: Menzies School of Health Research