WASHINGTON, April 1, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Giving
antibiotic regimens with fewer injections to newborns with severe
infections - such as pneumonia and sepsis - in lower income
countries is as effective as the standard course of twice daily
injections over the course of a week, according to research
conducted in Bangladesh,
Nigeria, Kenya, and Democratic Republic of Congo. The promising
new evidence published in The Lancet and The Lancet
Global Health on April 2, shows a
safe, effective and simpler treatment for severe infections can be
provided in lower level facilities when access to hospitalization
is not possible. If implemented at scale, a significant portion of
the 629,000 annual newborn deaths due to infection could be
prevented.
Serious infections are a major cause of illness and death among
newborns and young children across the world. Globally, ten percent
of all deaths among children younger than five years of age are the
result of severe infections like sepsis - a fast progressing
life-threatening illness that requires rapid treatment. These
deaths account for one quarter of the nearly three million deaths
each year during the first 28 days after birth, the newborn
period.
"Most deaths due to infection could be averted through simple
preventive measures, such as improving hygiene and ensuring
curative care is available to sick newborns," says Joy Riggs-Perla, Director of Save the Children's
Saving Newborn Lives program. "When families can identify severe
infection and start antibiotic treatment early, they dramatically
increase a newborn's chance of survival."
The current standard of treatment for severe infections requires
in-patient care and a 7-day treatment, but in developing countries
around the world, many families lack access to a hospital due to
significant financial or logistical challenges. This leaves
thousands of children at risk of not receiving proper care.
The study in Asia tested two
alternative antibiotic regimens, combining injectable and oral
administration of the drugs. The studies in Africa tested the same two alternatives plus a
third even simpler treatment compared to the standard WHO treatment
of 14 injections over 7 days. The simplest alternative
treatment included only two days of injectable antibiotic with oral
treatment followed by five days of oral antibiotics only.
"Now is the time to bend the curve on maternal and newborn
health and accelerate progress," said Mariam Claeson, Director of Maternal Newborn
Child Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "A
simplified antibiotic regimen means more women in poor countries
can access the critical treatment their newborns need to survive.
We now have the opportunity to expand this effective, lifesaving
treatment and save more newborns than ever before."
The studies documented that families were able to correctly give
the necessary oral antibiotics at home when given proper
instruction from health care providers. The studies also
demonstrated the need for appropriate follow up and monitoring by
trained health workers for this strategy to be safe and
effective.
"Increasing coverage of newborn sepsis management has been very
challenging because it is fraught with so many barriers – distance
to health facilities, fear of multiple injections, and cultural
issues, said Katie Taylor, Deputy
Assistant Administrator at the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID). "This new evidence will give newborns a
fighting chance to survive and thrive during the most perilous
period of life -- during delivery and the post-natal period when
infection poses a grave threat to their survival."
By improving access to effective and available treatment, this
new regimen promises to save thousands of newborn lives with low
cost, effective and commonly available antibiotics. The antibiotics
tested in the study -- penicillin, amoxicillin, and gentamicin are
listed by the UN Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women
and Children as high-impact commodities that, if scaled up, can
significantly reduce preventable deaths.
"Treating these babies closer to home with fewer injections will
expand access to life saving treatment for these newborns, which is
critical where hospital care is not always available," said
Abdullah Baqui, MBBS, DrPH, MPH, a
professor in the Department of International Health and Director of
the International Center for Maternal and Newborn Health at the
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "This
would save many young lives."
The research was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, Save the Children, USAID, and WHO, in collaboration
with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and
researchers in Nigeria,
Bangladesh, D.R. Congo, and Pakistan.
Media contacts:
USAID: Chris Thomas - chthomas@usaid.gov
Save the Children's Saving Newborn Lives: JoAnn Paradis -
jparadis@savechildren.org
Johns Hopkins Univ. Bloomberg
School of Public Health: Brandon
Howard - brandonhoward@jhu.edu
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Katie Harris –
katie.harris@gatesfoundation.org
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SOURCE Save the Children