Hays and his colleagues wanted to see if another antibiotic would work as well against yaws, one that would be easier to use in a mass-treatment program.
While penicillin is effective, it also has its downsides: it requires syringes and trained health workers to inject the drug, the needles must be properly disposed of to prevent possible transmission of other disease, and there is a risk of an allergic reaction.
In a study of about 250 children, half got penicillin injections, the others got azithromycin in pill form.
After six months, the results were similar for each group: nearly all children were cured in both groups, and no serious side effects were reported.
But Hays, whose research appears in The Lancet, says this alone isn't enough to switch to the azithromycin pills.
"From our point of view, we feel that the next logical step is to conduct a mass drug administration of azithromycin in a limited setting, and to then follow up that population and see if we can demonstrate that yaws can be eliminated from a particular location."
In a commentary, also in The Lancet, tropical disease expert David Mabey, of the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, agrees with the need for more research. But he also worries that the yaws bacteria might develop resistance to azithromycin.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
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2013-11-25