Clinical Trials Logo

Clinical Trial Summary

Acute lower respiratory tract infections are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in sub Saharan Africa. The World Health Organisation (WHO) still recommends intravenous chloramphenicol for the treatment of severe pneumonia in children aged less than five years. However, up to 20% of children fail treatment due to the emergence of resistance by bacteria. Several centers now use ceftriaxone, a third generation cephalosporin, which is reported to be efficacious in the treatment of severe pneumonia. However the high cost of ceftriaxone is too prohibitive to allow for its routine use in resource constrained countries. The purpose of this study is to compare chloramphenicol and ceftriaxone in the treatment of severe pneumonia in children under five.

We hypothesize that 92.7% of children who receive once daily intravenous ceftriaxone (75 mg/kg body weight)for 7 days, will recover from severe pneumonia compared to 80.2 % of those who receive intravenous chloramphenicol (25mg/kg body weight/dose every 6 hours for 7 days).


Clinical Trial Description

A recent report from the World health Organization showed pneumonia was the leading cause of death in children less than 5 years. WHO recommends intravenous Chloramphenicol 25mg/kg six hourly as the first line drug for the treatment of severe pneumonia in these children. Ceftriaxone 75mg/kg daily is the second line drug.

The efficacy of chloramphenicol for the treatment of severe pneumonia ranges from 80%-84%, while that of ceftriaxone ranges from 85% to 97%. However the high cost of ceftriaxone is too prohibitive to allow for its routine use in resource constrained countries. A study comparing penicillin G plus chloramphenicol and ceftriaxone in the treatment of severe pneumonia in Turkey found that both drugs were equally effective in normalization of the outcome parameters. A recent Cochrane review found no randomized controlled trials comparing both drugs in the treatment of severe forms of pneumonia.

The objective of this study it to compare the efficacy of Ceftriaxone versus Chloramphenicol in the treatment of severe pneumonia in the children under five years of age admitted to Mulago hospital.

This will be a double- blinded randomized controlled trial. Three hundred forty eight children with severe pneumonia will be randomized to receive either intravenous ceftriaxone 75mg/kg/day for seven days or intravenous chloramphenicol 100mg/kg/day for seven days. The primary outcome will mortality and secondary outcomes will be time taken to normalization of respiratory rate, temperature and oxygen saturation. ;


Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Safety/Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Double-Blind, Primary Purpose: Treatment


Related Conditions & MeSH terms


NCT number NCT00372541
Study type Interventional
Source Makerere University
Contact
Status Completed
Phase Phase 3
Start date September 2006
Completion date March 2007

See also
  Status Clinical Trial Phase
Active, not recruiting NCT04244474 - Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on Improvement of Pneumonic Children Phase 1/Phase 2
Completed NCT05815264 - Clinical Trial of 23-valent Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine in Healthy Chinese Population Aged 2 Years and Above Phase 1
Recruiting NCT04589936 - Prone Position to Improve Oxygenation in COVID-19 Patients Outside Critical Care N/A
Completed NCT02905383 - The Effect of Exercise on Physical Function and Health in Older People After Discharge From Hospital N/A
Completed NCT06210737 - A Study to Evaluate Persistence of Immunity of PCV13 in Healthy Population Aged 2 Months,7 Months-5 Years Phase 4
Terminated NCT03944551 - Bubble Continuous Positive Airway Pressure for Children With Severe Pneumonia in Mali, Africa N/A
Terminated NCT04660084 - Impact of Molecular Testing on Improved Diagnosis, Treatment and Management of CAP N/A
Not yet recruiting NCT05649891 - Checklists Resuscitation Emergency Department N/A
Not yet recruiting NCT04171674 - Pharmacokinetics of High-dose Ceftobiprole in Community-acquired Pneumonia Under Mechanical Ventilation. N/A
Active, not recruiting NCT03140163 - Screening for Pneumonia: A Comparison of Ultra Low Dose Chest CT [ULD-CT] and Conventional Chest Radiography [CXR] N/A
Completed NCT02864420 - Hospitalization at Home: The Acute Care Home Hospital Program for Adults N/A
Completed NCT02638649 - Prehospital Use of Ultrasound in Undifferentiated Shortness of Breath
Recruiting NCT02515565 - Physiotherapy in Patients Hospitalized Due to Pneumonia. N/A
Completed NCT02105298 - Effect of Volume and Type of Fluid on Postoperative Incidence of Respiratory Complications and Outcome (CRC-Study) N/A
Completed NCT01446926 - Study of Investigational Pneumococcal Vaccine in Healthy Adults, Toddlers and Infants Phase 1
Completed NCT01399723 - Amoxicillin Versus Benzyl Penicillin for Treatment of Children Hospitalised With Severe Pneumonia Phase 3
Completed NCT01416519 - Physiotherapy Technique Decreases Respiratory Complications After Cardiac Operation N/A
Terminated NCT02358642 - Drug to Prevent Pneumonia in the Tube Fed Phase 4
Completed NCT01476995 - Prognostic Indicators as Provided by the EPIC ClearView N/A
Completed NCT01416506 - Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) Surveillance N/A