Simplified Antibiotic Regimens for Outpatient Treatment of Suspected Sepsis in Neonates and Young Infants in Bangladesh

Summary

The primary aim is to establish the non-inferiority of several simplified, home-based antibiotic regimens compared to the standard course of parenteral antibiotics for the empiric treatment of suspected sepsis in Bangladeshi young infants whose parents refuse hospitalization. Three alternative regimens will be compared with a standard (reference) regimen of injectable procaine-benzyl penicillin and gentamicin once daily each for seven days. Alternative regimens are (1) injectable gentamicin once daily and oral amoxicillin twice daily for seven days; (2) injectable penicillin and gentamicin once daily for two days followed by oral amoxicillin twice daily for five days; and (3) injectable gentamicin once daily and oral amoxicillin twice daily for two days followed by oral amoxicillin twice daily for five days. Hypothesis The proportion who fails treatment will be 10 percent in the reference group and the alternative treatment groups. An alternative therapy will be considered non-inferior to the standard therapy if the failure rate in the alternative therapy exceeds the failure rate in the injectable therapy by less than 5 absolute percentage points. Secondary Objectives: * To identify baseline clinical predictors of treatment failure in severe infections in young infants. * To determine the proportion of relapse (young infants who were considered cured by day 7 but developed any of the signs of suspected severe infection by day 14).

Timeline

Start

2009-03

Primary completion

2013-09

Completion

2013-09

Publications

• Longombe AL, Ayede AI, Marete I, Mir F, Ejembi CL, Shahidullah M, Adejuyigbe EA, Wammanda RD, Tshefu A, Esamai F, Zaidi AK, Baqui AH, Cousens S. Oral amoxicillin plus gentamicin regimens may be superior to the procaine-penicillin plus gentamicin regimens for treatment of young infants with possible serious bacterial infection when referral is not feasible: Pooled analysis from three trials in Africa and Asia. J Glob Health. 2022 Nov 21;12:04084. doi: 10.7189/jogh.12.04084.
• Baqui AH, Saha SK, Ahmed AS, Shahidullah M, Quasem I, Roth DE, Samsuzzaman AK, Ahmed W, Tabib SM, Mitra DK, Begum N, Islam M, Mahmud A, Rahman MH, Moin MI, Mullany LC, Cousens S, El Arifeen S, Wall S, Brandes N, Santosham M, Black RE; Projahnmo Study Group in Bangladesh. Safety and efficacy of alternative antibiotic regimens compared with 7 day injectable procaine benzylpenicillin and gentamicin for outpatient treatment of neonates and young infants with clinical signs of severe infection when referral is not possible: a randomised, open-label, equivalence trial. Lancet Glob Health. 2015 May;3(5):e279-87. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(14)70347-X. Epub 2015 Apr 1.
• Baqui AH, Saha SK, Ahmed AS, Shahidullah M, Quasem I, Roth DE, Williams EK, Mitra D, Shamsuzzaman AK, Ahmed W, Mullany LC, Cousens S, Wall S, Brandes N, Black RE. Safety and efficacy of simplified antibiotic regimens for outpatient treatment of serious infection in neonates and young infants 0-59 days of age in Bangladesh: design of a randomized controlled trial. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2013 Sep;32 Suppl 1(Suppl 1 Innovative Treatment Regimens for Severe Infections in Young Infants):S12-8. doi: 10.1097/INF.0b013e31829ff790.

Drugs

Indications